So by this point i'm starting to get the hang of it, bar stitching. I've been knitting for 5 years at this point and now I've sorted my hands and tension out I'm fairly confident in my ability to make something nice.
Well, my nans birthday coming up so I decided this is the perfect time to make her a gift. (She the type of person who lavishes money on all of her family, but refuses to have any money spent on her the annoying women. Love you nan ;) )
At this point It's a choice between a Pig and an Elephant, her favo
rite animals. But I found this yarn that changed between black, grey and white and my new book (spoiler never use it again after this project, soooo worth the £24.99 ) so Elephant it is!
So this book () is worth the money it has a range of patterns, but I will say now it was difficult as a beginner for the fact that your help is shown in a stitch diagram and had limited photos. But all in all was a good book and now I would definitely use it as a more advanced crocheter.
I decided to start with the body first, under the impression I would stitch as I go.
Half way through the body I had the idea to turn him into a doorstop. So the first thing I did was get a cloth bag, the right size for your hole, and added a lot of rice I then stitched this bag closed and added it to my project. This was fun because the added weight made it difficult to keep tension right.
After this I moved onto the face, because I was using safety eyes, I was too eager to attach them and did it too soon, because of which I had a lot of trouble with the eye on this project. So I use safety eyes, which once placed on they can't be removed unless you take your pattern apart. I was lucky because the backs were too small and could be taken out between stitches, so I was able to place one I wanted. I also struggled in the placement of the yes, so I will say always add the trunk first !!
The next issue was in the placement of the ears. Making them wasn't an issue, it just a circle, but attaching them was a nightmare. I tried them folded, open, circles. Nothing looked right. I must have spent two days redoing these ears till I was finally happy, even then I would often tweek them not 100% happy.
Lastly was the legs and arm. For the most part these were simple tubs, however the tops were done in a way that made them fit to the body nice and snugly, which was a nice skill to learn. Now these were a problem only because I had decided to add a bag of rice to the inside of the elephant. So I had to be very careful not to thread through that layer as well. I place these on the body and used safety pins to hold them in place, this allows me to tweek them as and when was needed to ensure they looked right.
All in all a nice pattern and I loved the end result, as did the recipient.
Pattern: (book) Crocheted Wild Animals by Vanessa Mooncie
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