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Lover of knitting, embroidery, crochet, sewing, afternoon tea, fashion, music and film from the 1920's to the 1940's, vintage crockery and the occasional zombie film.

Wednesday 17 August 2011

Sleepy Owl Cushion (Free Knitting Pattern)


Sleepy Owl cushion, waiting to be knitted and snuggled onto a sofa near you!

Sleepy Owl is a sofa or armchair dwelling companion for the knitter, reader or viewer of television. Sleepy Owl is unsure of his status re: whether he is a cushion or a toy. Sleepy owl is about 25cm by 25cm, excluding ears.

Materials:
For the owl:
Chunky or bulky yarn and corresponding needles. I used Paton’s Shadow Tweed. One 100g ball made an owl cushion.
6.5mm knitting needles
Fiberfill for the owl stuffing
Yarn needle
Contrast yarn for embroidery of eyes and beak (you could also use embroidery floss or buttons for eyes)
Scissors

For the embellishments:
4ply yarn in however many colours you would like to use (I used 3 complimentary tweedy colours)
3.5mm crochet hook
Yarn needle
Scissors

Abbreviations/knitting and crochet techniques:
K2tog – knit two stitches together
Treble crochet in this pattern (for the owl tummy feathers) refers to UK treble crochet, equivalent to US double crochet.
Magic loop cast on for crocheting in the round – the tummy feathers are crocheted in rows but the magic loop is the perfect beginning as it’s for a semi-circle.

Pattern:
Body (make two)
Using 6.5mm needles, cast on 34 stitches.
Knit every row for 50 rows (or more if you would prefer a tall owl!)
Row 51: K2tog, knit to the last two stitches, K2tog (32 stitches)
Row 52: Knit (32 stitches)
Row 53: Knit 2tog, knit to the last two stitches, K2tog (30 stitches)
Row 54: Knit (30 stitches)
Row 55: K2tog, knit to the last two stitches, K2tog (28 stitches)
Row 56: Knit (28 stitches)
Row 57: K2tog, knit to the last two stitches, K2tog (26 stitches)
Row 58: Knit (26 stitches)
Row 59: K2tog, knit to the last two stitches, K2tog (24 stitches)
Row 60: Knit (24 stitches)
Cast off

Ears (make two)
Using 6.5mm needles, cast on 12 stitches
Knit 10 rows or however many rows needed with your gauge to make a square.
Cast off.

The two pieces each of owl body and ear.
Crocheted Owl tummy feathers (make 9, 3 in each colour or all in same colour – what ever you prefer!)
Using the magic ring to begin, make 3 stitches and close the loop
Row 1: Chain 2, 3 treble crochet into the first stitch, 2 treble crochet into the middle stitch, 3 treble crochet into the third stitch, turn
Row 2: Chain 2, 3 treble crochet into the first stitch, 2 treble crochet into each stitch until the final stitch, 3 treble crochet into final stitch.
Cut 20cm tail of yarn from your crocheted semi-circle (feather!) and draw through the loop on the crochet hook to cast off.

Alternatively semi-circles of fabric, ribbon or knitted semi-circles could be used as tummy feathers and of course you can use more than 9 and layer them together.

Assembly
Stitch the 2 sides of the owl body together with mattress stitch beginning with the sides and bottom of the owl. Leave the top open so you can attach the ears to the slopey side bits of the top of the owl head area.


Before attaching the ears to the owl body, fold them in half and seam down one side of the ear like this to make a triangle:

Seaming one side of the ear to make a triangle.

Attach the ears to the sides of the owl’s head with mattress stitch.

All stitched together ready to be filled with squishy Fiberfill goodness!
Sew up the owl’s head neatly so the seam doesn’t show. I did a kind of mattress stitch however I’m sure kitchener would also work.

Mattress stitch the top after stuffing with Fiberfill.

Attach the tummy feathers by stitching them to the body of the owl with the 20cm tail and weave in the cast-on end.
Embroider the eyes and beak in a contrasting colour.
Settle your owl onto the sofa for a relaxing nap!

Copyright KnittingPony. For personal use only. Please do not sell any Sleepy Owl cushions you make from this pattern, or distribute or sell this pattern. Please contact me for any other information or for any errata submissions.


Monday 1 August 2011

Tiny Tooth Free Crochet Pattern


Teeny tiny toof is teeny
This tiny tooth is a quick and easy project and requires little in the way of time or materials. Knowledge of the magic loop/adjustable ring method (search on Google) for starting crochet in the round, and experience of crocheting in the round would be helpful as it’s a tiny bit fiddly due to the size of the project.


The photos are of the slightly larger tooth (pattern at bottom of page). A tinier toof pattern follows.

Materials:
White or cream yarn and appropriate size crochet hook
Fiberfill for stuffing
Stitch marker (a hair grip/bobby pin works very well!)
Yarn needle
Scissors
Eyes: safety eyes/black yarn/embroidery floss/small buttons (I used 6mm safety eyes)
Red yarn or embroidery floss for the mouth

Abbreviations
St – stitch
Dc – double crochet. In this pattern, this is British double crochet, equivalent to American single crochet.
Sl st – slip stitch

Pattern:
Using the magic loop make a ring of 4 dc (4 st)
Round 1: 2dc in each st (8 st)
Round 2: *1dc in first st, 2 dc in following st, repeat from * around (12 st)
Round 3 – 9: dc in each st (12)
Round 10: divide for the two roots with a slip stitch and dc around those 6 st (6 st)
Round 11: dc in each st (6 st)
Round 12: decrease by putting the crochet hook through one half of three alternating st and create a slip stitch, repeat with any other stitches to close the end of the root.

The great divide... 

Add the safety eyes and then stuff with Fiberfill. Using the crochet hook, pull some of the Fiberfill to the end of the root to plump  it out. Due to the construction, the top of the tooth has a dip in it, like a molar:

Top of the molar


Repeat rounds 10 – 12 on the other side of the tooth to complete the second root. Using the crochet hook, pull some Fiberfill downwards to fill the root out.

Weave in the ends and embroider a mouth.

Done!

For a ever so slightly larger tooth, begin with a circle of 6 stitches, then
Round 2: 2 dc in each st in each st
Round 3: *2 dc in next st, dc in following st, repeat from * around
Round 4: *2 dc in next st, dc in following 2 st, repeat from * around
Rounds 5 - 11: dc in each st
Round 12: divide for root and dc in each st 
Round 13: dc in each st of the root
Round 14: dc in each st of the root
Round 15: decrease across sets of 2 or 3 st
Round 16: close end of root
Stuff, add eyes and make another root. Embroider mouth.
*ehn!* Tiny Toof gets comfy on the pillow.

Copyright KnittingPony. For personal use only. Please do not sell any tiny teeth you make from this pattern, or distribute or sell this pattern. Please contact me for any other information or for any errata submissions.