Fun with World Cup Flags

The World Cup is in full swing at the moment - what better opportunity to use my creativity? I had set myself the monumentous task of crocheting ALL of the participant flags. Yep, you heard right - 32 flags with details!!!

It was a long and work-intensive journey, but I am happy to say that I created all of them without leaving out crucial details. Here are the pictures:

Iron like a Lion in Zion

"Iron like a lion in zion".... I am not an adherent of the Rastafari movement, but I always had a thing for Bob Marley. His songs are just so powerful (swoon!).

Anyway, lions are important symbols in this culture! While Rastafaris see them as majestic creatures, I decided to take another route. Who says lions have to be the kings of the animals? Over the last two years, I made altogether three of them. This time, however, I wanted to increase the cutenes factor. So instead of having just the form, I added paws and I also made a bit smaller at the top. Plus, it has oval eyes ;-)

Take a look:

The new version

The old version

Here's how you crochet it:

You will need

1 ball of yellow / sand colour wool
1 ball of red wool
plastic eyes

Body

The body is done just like I always do it: You start with a ring of 5 or 6 stitches in yellow and increase constantly until you reach the desired width. Then, you continue with one stitch per stitch until you decrease at the necessary distance. However, this time, I decrease earlier and slower, so that the form is small at the top. How you do that? Decrease slightly in one round (e. g. every 4 or 5 stitches) and then continue regularly in the nect round.

Paws

Make a ring of 5 in yellow, crochet one normal round and the decrease immediately. Sew the paws onto the body.

Mane

Crochet a string of crochets and close it at the end. Then continue with two single crochets plus a combination of single - triple - triple - single in one stitch. Thus, you achive the "up-and-down" look. Sew the finished string onto the body.

Finish

Sew on the snout and glue on the eyes. Add a tail by pulling ca. 6 strings of red wool through the rear end. Make a braid aout of them and fixate it by tying a knot at the end. Can you hear the lion roar yet?

The Grounded Groundhog

Groundhogs are usually not very serious animals. Well this one is - how so? Find out at the end of the article!

Here's how you crochet it:

1 ball of fluffy brownish / beige wool
1 crocheting needle
a black yarn
a beige yarn

Body

Begin by tying 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 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), row four with two crochets per previous two crochets and a doubled crochet per previous crochet in turns (=20 crochets) and row five with a 3 per 3, double per one pattern (=25 crochets).

Continue with 25 crochets per round for the next 10-20 rounds. Then decrease accordingly and do not forget to stuff the ball that you create with batting. 

Head

Start by crocheting a disc. Complete the first round and second round, then slowly decrease in the next round for the snout. Continue normally for two more rounds, then sew the mouth shut. Sew on the eyes in black and the snout in beige. Sew the head onto the body.

Feet (2x)

Start by crocheting a disc. Complete the first round and second round, then slowly decrease in the next rounds until you have have two thumb-sized balls. Sew the feet onto the body.

Arms (2x)

The arms can be done more easily. You start with a simple row of 4-6 stitches, depending on the size of the body. Decrease in the following rounds until you have an edged tip. Sew both parts onto the body.

Tail

Start with a row of two stiches. Continue in rounds until you have a long, flat shape. Sew this onto the body. 

By flexing the tail and pushing it downwards in the middle, you stabilise the groundhog and it can sit up. It is thus grounded (as in sitting on the floor). 

A head of rose(s)

This blog is a zoo, but the flora deserves to have a shot, too. This week I was inspired to make a headpiece. The result is this rose, that you wrap around your head asymmetrically (notice the shorter thread on one side). Alternatively, you can wear it around your neck, where it makes a pretty "Trachtenschmuck".

Thread

The thread is basically a string of crochets. Make sure to sew the loose end into the tread so that they don't stick out.

Rose

This flower consits of three layers of continued round. You can diversify how much you want to in the design, but you need to make the bottom one the largest and so on.

Your enthusiastic crocheter,
Fran

The Freeborn, Lovelorn, Forlorn Unicorn

It's magic time!!!! May I present the one and only unicorn?

Horse-shaped animals are actually really difficult to do. For starters, you have 7 pieces that you need to sew together. Moreover, the mane and tail have to be woven into the these pieces. And last but not least, you will have to make sure that all is well-proportioned. Huh.... Let's break it down.

The body is oval-shaped and quite easy to finish in comparison. The legs are simply made of a ring of 5 crochets until they are long enough. The head is oval-shaped, as well, only much smaller. It is the neck that poses that challenge!

For the neck, you will need to start with a fairly long row of crochets and then slowly decrease until you have a form looking like this:

 

By sewing it together at opposite ends, you create a tube - the neck! If necessary, you can get the neck into form with additional strings that you pull through it and knot at either side. 

The finishing touches consits of the attachment of the mane and tail and the design of the snout. For that, you pull ca. 5-8 strings through the rear and neck and knot them together. Then, fizz out the strings by pulling a needle through them. By being "fizzy", the strings widen and thus a dissolution of the knots are prevented. The snout can simply be stitched on and the eyes glued on.

Fell the magic yet? The Freeborn, Lovelorn, Forlorn Unicorn certainly does....

Guinea Pig

What you need:

1 ball of effect yarn (the "fluffy" kind), preferrably in beige or light brown
1 ball of beige wool
2 plastic eyes
a black thread for the snout
1 crocheting needle

The guinea pig is probably one of the easiest stuffed animals you will crochet. Why? All you need to do is produce an oval-shaped body, the ears and feet and that's it basically. Here's how you do it:

Body
Start by crocheting a disc (as shown in previous tutorials) and increase round by round until you arrive at a satisfying size. Then continue to crochet without increasing or decreasing until you have a satisfying length, as well. Then decrease and make sure to stuff the animal with batting before you close off the body.

Ears
Crochet a row of 4 stitches with the beige wool. Then decrease by taking two stitches together. Repeat that in round 3. Sew the ears onto the body.

Feet
Start by crocheting a tiny disc. Increase in round two and immediately decrease in round three, so that you get a voluminous effect. Sew the feet onto the body.

Face
Stitch on a snout by using the black or alternatively brown thread (depending on the shade and thickness of the wool). Glue on the plastic eyes.

Say hello to your little guniea piggy!

Niles the Purple Hippopotamus

What you need:

1 ball of purple wool
2 plastic eyes (can be replaced by buttons or stitched on)
1 crocheting needle (size 3)


Body
Start by crocheting a flat disc (see previous tutorials), but this time with a twist. Instead of starting with a sling, you crochet a small row of slip stitches. Crochet the first row normally, then put several stitches in the last one. By doing this, you turn the row "around" and you can now crochet in continuous rows. Repet the same at the other end, until you have an oval concave shape. Voilà, this way, you will have a more "square" shape for your hippo!

Legs
Start with a sling and 5 single crochets in it. Continue in rounds until the legs are long enough.

Tail
Crochet a row of four stitches and reduce until you end up with one. Don't sew up the remaining thread, but fuzz it out with a needle. That way, you will have the "typical" hippo tail.

Head
This is the trickiest part. Crochet a first round into the body. Then, in the susequent rounds, you will need to increase on one side and stick to the pattern on the other. Following that, you will need to decrease again to form the snout. Continue for a couple of rounds. Then, crochet a triple crochet - 2x single crochet - triples crochet pattern on the top snout. Attach this to the lower part and add teeth if you are so inclined ;-)

Ears
This is easy. You will need a slip stitch and then you can put a couple of single crochets in it. Press together on the lower side and attach to the head.