Batty

Visiting the Carlsbad Caverns, there was an adorable bat doll to commemorate the bats that live in the caves. I decided to make one instead of buying it!

Thanks to no1pugmom on ravelry for help with the cleanup on this.

Body:
R1- I began with a magic loop
R2- 6 sc in loop or 2nd chain from hook (6 sc)
R3- Inc around (12 sc)
R4- Inc around (24 sc) (I really did double again here, I wanted it to turn out fairly flat on the bottom and it did)
R5- * Sc in next 3 sc, inc * around (30 sc)
R6- * Sc in next 4 sc, inc * around (36 sc)
R7- * Sc in next 5 sc, inc * around (42 sc)
R8- * Sc in next 6 sc, inc * around (48 sc)
R9-10- 2 rounds even. (2 x 48 = 96 sc)
R11- 6sc, [yo, pull through 1x, yo into same stitch and pull through all (twice; this is two sc of the row below)]; 3 sc and repeat [ ] section, sc remainder of row (48 stitches, with bobbles each counting as 1)
R12-23- 12 rounds even (12 x 48= 576 sc) (I also took some time to make stitches in grey yarn around the feet/bobbles to accent them before moving too far in the 12 rounds here.)
R24- 10 sc, 5 sc flo, sc remainder (Attach white yarn to the 5 front loop spaces to create fangs! You don't actually HAVE to do the flo stitches, but I found it helpful in placement.)
R25-27- 3 rounds even (3 x 48= 144 sc) (I placed the eyes at this third row.)
R28- * Sc in next 6 sc, dec * around (42 sc)
R29- * Sc in next 5 sc, dec * around (36 sc)
R30- * Sc in next 4 sc, dec * around (30 sc)
R31- * Sc in next 3 sc, dec * around (24 sc)
R32- * Sc in next 3 sc, dec * around (18 sc)
R33- * Sc in next 2 sc, dec * around (12 sc)( This is when I stuffed)
R34- Dec around (6 sc)
R35- Dec around (3sc) (I wanted an extra row to give the bat a bit of a point on his head as compared to the bottom.)


Ears:
Make two.
R1- Ch 6.
R2- Sc front loop only down chain, then go back down chain sc back loop only.
R3- Ch 1, turn, and sc back to top. Finish off.
This should give your ears a bit of a curve to them, so they look more like bat ears. You can also sew them on in a curve if they don't come out already shell-shaped.


Fangs:
Note, you'll want to leave long tails of yarn on either end to help you sew the fangs onto the face. Please read all the instructions for this section before beginning! It's unorthodox I'm sure, but it does work.
Make only one.
R1- ch 6, turn
R2.0- Go through 3rd chain from hook, yarn over and pull through, go through next chain, yarn over and pull through 2 loops on hook, yarn over and pull through all, finish off
R2.1- With long tail from other end, make a slipknot. Chain 2, yarn over and pull through at first chain of the original chain, yarn over and go through the next chain, yarn over and pull through all and finish off.
At the end of this, you should have two points with yarn dangling off them, so you can now use the ends to sew the fangs on.


Wings:
It's best to read over this whole wing pattern and the note before beginning.
This pattern of decreasing the number of big stitches by one on each row is what creates a curved wing edge. Continue until wings are large enough; this was 8 rows for me (once I began that portion fo the wing). I did two rows - one toward the middle and one back down to the edge - before decreasing the number of stitches.
Make two.
R1- Ch 21, turn
R2- Sl st into 2nd chain from hook, sc through remainder, ch 3 and turn
R3- Make 5 tr into next 5 spaces (this counts as 6 tr), make 5 dbl into next 5 spaces, make 4 hdc, sc up to the last sc in row (4sc), sl st into last sc, turn.
R4- Sl st into first sc and repeat all previous row stitches until the end of the row (that is, make a sc where there was a sc before, make a dbl where there was a dbl before, etc.)
R5- Ch 3 and sl into last tr, ch 3 in the same spot, continue with 4 tr (5 incl. chain), 4 dbl, 3 hdc, 3sc, sl into next stitch, turn.
R6- Sl st into first sc of row, sc in each of the next two, make hdc in hdc, dbl in dbl, tr in tr.
R7- Ch 3 and sl into last tr, ch 3 in same spot, continue with 3 tr (4 incl. chain), 4 dbl, 3 hdc, 2 sc, sl into last stitch, turn.
R8- Sl st into first sc of row, repeat stitches from previous row (as in rows 4 and 6).
R9- Ch 3 and sl into last tr, ch 3 in same spot, continue with 3 tr (4 incl. chain), 3 dbl, 2 hdc, 1 sc, sl into last stitch, turn.
R10- Sl st into first sc of row, make sc, 2 hdc, 2 dbl, 2 tr and finish off.
Optional: On the back side of the original chain, attach a new loop and ch 3. Make 2 tr (on back side of original chain) and finish off. Leave enough yarn to sew these tabs into the main body. (This is how I did it, but it's not strictly necessary.)

ScaWrap

This is based on a stitch from a stitch dictionary, but I figure, I made it, why not post it. I was going for something lightweight (for someone in FL) but that would be versatile - wrap, scarf, just something warm!

Braaaaaains...

This is what it looks like inside my head right now. Seriously. It's making me a bit crazy, but I'm hoping at least some of these turn out well.

Puppy amigurumi

I made this puppy to go along with the hat I designed in the previous post.

Obviously, if you're familiar with amigurumi, it's a pretty simple design. On the other hand, if you're not, I don't know that my pattern is the best one to start with.

That being said, here goes nothing!

Supplies:
In this case, bulky weight yarn and a 3.75mm hook for the brown.
I had stash white that is sport weight and used a 3.25mm hook on the white portion.

Notions: 
Safety eyes (these are 9 mm) and a big needle for sewing in ends/pieces. Preferably also a stitch marker.

You'll find the pattern below this lovely large photo.



Without further ado:
Head/Body:
Create a shrinking/magic ring with 5 stitches.
Expand each row by 5 (a stitch marker is probably helpful here) until you reach a total of 30 stitches.
Invisible reduce down to 10 stitches before creating and placing the muzzle and eyes.
Invisible reduce down to 5 stitches. Stuff head.
Increase next two rounds by 5 stitches each.
Repeat round at 15.
Increase by 5.
Repeat round at 20, 2x.
Increase by 5.
Invisible reduce down to small circle of 5 and stuff before finishing off.

Muzzle:
Make a circle of 5.
Increase to 10.
3 rows of 10.
Stuff and attach.

Eyes -- make two:
Chain 4.
Sl. st. in first chain.
Hdc 6x in 2nd chain.
Sl st. in last chain.
Place safety eyes through the gap created by the 6 hdcs and place just above muzzle. No need to stitch these into place because the safety eyes will hold them in place and they are not large. However, you will need to weave in the ends, so this would be a good use for them!

Note: When you place the eyes and muzzle on the face, there will be a gap between the two. You'll want to make some stitches between the two to keep the brown from showing through.

Feet -- make two (NOT ARMS):
Magic ring 5.
Repeat circle 2x.
Finish off and attach.
Note: I actually didn't stuff these. They're small and the bulky yarn holds the shape well.

Arms -- make two (NOT FEET):
Magic ring 5.
Repeat circle 5x.
Note: These were attached 'flat' rather than in the round. I actually didn't stuff these, either. They're small and the bulky yarn holds the shape well.

Ears -- make two:
Ch. 3, turn, sc 2x.
Ch., turn, sc 2x. (repeat 1x)
Repeat again, but place 2 sc in the 2nd stitch of this new row.
Ch 1, turn, and sl st. into the first stitch of the next row. Make 5 hdc in the middle stitch. Sl st into the last stitch of the row and finish off.

Tail:
Ch 9, turn.
Make 8 sc in the first 4 sc spaces (that is, make two sc in each of the first four spaces -- this gives it a curl). Sl stitch remaining 3 spaces and finish off. Weave ends back through to attach tail.


After all was said and done, I sewed a bit of brown onto the muzzle to create the nose shape.

Puppy hat!

I was commissioned (for lack of a better word) to do a puppy hat for a child's halloween costume.
Given the measurement for the head and the instruction that long was OK, I worked out this:

I'm not pleased with the length of the hat, but I was working bottom-up and I thought I'd gotten far enough. However, I'm going to add on some length.

So, for pattern: Make a basic hat, bottom up, single crochet, with invisible decreases:
Chained 42, single crochet in slip-stitch-joined rounds. However, the gauge isn't important since hats should be made to fit.
That being said, I used a bulky weight yarn (5) with a J/6mm hook and 2 inches (wide) = approx 5 stitches; 1 inch (tall) = approx 3 stitches.

The ears were the tricky part. All in US units:
Chain 6

1. Sl st into first chain. Make 6 tr into middle stitch. Sl st into last chain.
   
2. Sc around whole fan and across base chain (make 7 sc across chain). Ch 1 and turn.
   
3. 7 sc. NO chain, turn.
   
4. Make 6 sc across. Ch 1, turn.
5. 6 sc across. NO chain, turn.
6. Make 5 sc across. Ch 1, turn.
7. Repeat line 6.
8. Repeat line 6.
9. Make 5 sc across. NO chain, turn.
10. Make 4 sc across. Ch 1, turn.
11. Repeat line 10.
12. Repeat line 10.
13. Make 4 sc across. Finish off.

Obviously, I still need to attach these, but I'm going to attach them based on the distance from the top of the head rather than the length (which, as I pointed out, I'm going to extend). Hopefully they'll fall properly down past the edge of the hat. :)

Lengthened and sewn together, you get: (pictures cut off here, but if you click on them you can see the full image)