Black & tan

The little dachshund from amigurumi class wanted a bit more prettying before going out into the world. Specifically, he wanted a black and tan color scheme.

black & tan nose-on black & tan semi-profile
Dachshund pattern

The instructions should make it easy to do this color scheme or a monochromatic dog.

My brother and his family have a black and tan dachshund who is bestest friends with their cat. The got the cat in mid-December and the dog in early January, and they play together, nap together, and get into trouble together. This dachshund is in honor of them, and if I decide the world doesn’t have enough amigurumi cats after all, maybe I’ll add a cat to the mix too.

This ami has a companion document as well, a four-page pdf that attempts to distill all the necessary information for making amigurumi (beyond the basic crochet stitches) into one easily printed location. Here’s the table of contents.

  1. Making and tightening the double magic ring; color changing both generally and in a magic ring.
  2. Using stitch markers; working in confined spaces and around stuffing; making and comparison of different single crochet decrease techniques.
  3. Spirals versus joined rounds; closing the end of a piece and hiding the yarn; pinning completed crochet pieces together.
  4. Embroidering on crochet; making the French knot and bullion knot; securing and hiding contrasting floss or yarn; slip stitching a new piece of yarn on to add a small feature.

All of this information is available freely online, but I wanted to put it together in one concise document for reference purposes. It is sold separately and is usable without the dachshund, but the example photos are all of the dachshund.

Long legged language barriers

I finally made a second pattern from my Japanese amigurumi books, one of the ostriches I was so enamored of. I made it a nest of eyelash yarn filled with mini Cadbury eggs and gave it to my husband. However, although it was cute, it was not like the original. The kinds of yarn they used must have been much more disparate in size, because the body of my ostrich was exceedingly small proportionally.

Book versus mine:

ostrich from book ostrich brooding

Assembly instructions versus actual sewn neck and legs:

ostrich diagram ostrich pushups

So much for crochet diagrams breaking the language barrier! Though to be fair, I knew I had no idea what yarn to use going into this scheme; I decided to soldier on anyway. One more set of pictures:

ostrich nest ostrich tripod

That nest had a dozen eggs in it originally…

Store patterns… no foolin’

This morning I’d like to introduce you to the patterns currently in the ReveDreams.com store. This blog will not turn into an advertisement for the store with nothing else, though! As of this week we’ll have posts on Thursdays again as well as Mondays, and while I’ll show you items added to the store and patterns I’m working on, I’ll also continue with sewing, embroidery, and miscellaneous craft posts. Stop back Thursday for a non-crochet post!

Meanwhile, the store’s contents, which currently all relate to past posts.

stumpy monsters Of course the pattern for my stumpy monster, seen all over this blog including yesterday, is now available.

     Stumpy Monster pattern

thumbnail hippo & pig The thumbnail hippo I showed you has been revised and joined by a pig, a different head on the same body.

     Thumbnail Animals pattern

squids posed The tersely described squid is back, to be made rainbow or not. This is also a two-fer pattern, with a second squid included that shares top fin and tentacles with the first.

     Ginnie and Colin Squid pattern

barn owls The barn owl has moved from floss to yarn, with instructions to put in pipe cleaner legs so she’ll stand on her own, and without the need to push them through stuffing.

     Barn Owl pattern

snowflakes together The two snowflakes in this post have been joined by four others, previewed on my grandmother’s scarf but improved from there. All are flat and suitable for yarn; you could also make up tiny ones in thread.

     Yarn Snowflakes pattern