Olli the Owl goes traveling

A year ago, I gave a self-made present to one of my travel-hungry friends. Turns out that owls are migratory birds, after all....

Ile St. Helene, Canada

London, UK

Montreal, Canada

New York, USA

Niagara Falls, USA / Canada

Toronto, Canada

I am looking forward to seeing more of Olli's adventures in the future!

Flower Girls

Check out our newest works of art in my video on YouTube.


Cheers,

Fran

Tutorial: Ladybug

 

Body

Begin by tying a slip knot. Make sure not to close the knot completely and close the sling with a sling crochet (SlC). Cover the result, a ring, with 5 single crochets (SC) into the hole. When you are done, make sure to draw the loose string tight so that no hole remains. Increase the number of crochets in the next row by doubling them in each previous crochet (=10 crochets). Row three is continued with one single crochet and one doubled crochet per previous crochet in turns (=15 crochets) and row four with two crochets per previous two crochets and a doubled crochet per previous crochet in turns (=20 crochets). For more information on how to do this, please see this video.

Continue increasing until you have approximately a half-ball. 

Bottom

Stuff the half-ball and sew close with a disc in the same color.

Head

Begin by tying a slip knot. Make sure not to close the knot completely and close the sling with a sling crochet (SlC). Cover the result, a ring, with 5 single crochets (SC) into the hole. When you are done, make sure to draw the loose string tight so that no hole remains. Increase the number of crochets in the next row by doubling them in each previous crochet (=10 crochets). Sew onto the tip of the body. Glue on two plastic eyes.

Legs

Make a file of two sling crochets. Continue with approximately 4 rows of single crochets and then decrease in another row to one. Repeat 6x and sew the legs onto the body (3 legs per side).

Wings

Start by making a row of sling crochets in red (the length depends on the size of the body, so adapt accordingly). Crochet the first row with single crochets. Then decrease in layers at the end of the following rows. Finish by framing the rounded side with single crochets. Sew the wings onto the body.

Dots

Make at least six discs in black (one row should be sufficient, as they need to be kept small) and glue them onto the wings.

Voilà, your own little ladybug is done!

The art of disc

Discs can be used for a variety of things. Want to make a vase? Use the disc as the bottom! A stylised tree? Create discs of various sizes! A flower? Use the disc as a starting point! And there are many more possibilities...

Creating a flat disc is a challenge. Why? Because you need to harmonize the number of crochets with the size of the object. Don't worry, this doesn't require mathematical skills! ;-) Rather, a good eye is needed and the ability to recognize waves or creases early on. Here is how you easily make your own disc (please also see my video for more clarity):

• Start by making a ring or better-said, a slip knot. Make sure not to close the knot completely and close the sling with a sling crochet. 
• Cover the result, a ring, with 6 single crochets into the hole. Usually, I use 5 crochets in the first round, but we are aiming for a flat shape, so the more crochets there are, the better in this case. Caution! If you try to put more than 8 or 9 crochets into the ring, you will have to deal with a lot of crochets in the first rounds. Bottom rule in continuous crocheting: few crochets - concavity, many crochets - waves. As we want to avoid that here, it is better to stick to an average number first; you can increase later on at any given point.
• Now comes the tricky part: Increase doubly in the second round and stick to a 1-for-1, 2-for-1 pattern in the third round. Once you have done that, it is necessary to increase according to the size of the disc. If you want a big disc, I recommend that you continue this pattern. Please note that anytime you spot a slight concavity, you might have to go back to increase the stitches. The same applies to waves or creases. That is a clear sign of having too many crochets. You will also note it in the way the crochets stick to each other. The tighter the fit, the worse. In that case, just go back and continue with less crochets than before.   

As said before, the eye is your most important tool! By spotting irregularities early on, you will be able to create a beautiful piece bit by bit. I would love to see some of your examples or hear of your ideas, so feel free to send me some pictures :-)!