Little Lion Pattern Swap

Welcome to the LucyRavenscar/Louie's Loops pattern swap - two patterns for the price of one, and they're both free!

Louie has come up with this cute little Lion pin pattern, which will look adorable on your coat or bag, or sew a hair clip onto it and stick it in your hair!

Crocheted Leroy The Lion Pin Pattern

 

Materials:

Lion Brand Cotton/Lily Sugar’n Cream
/Lion Brand Cotton-Ease
(basically any 100% cotton works)
-Crochet Hook-Size G6 4.00mm
-Needle to sew in ends with

Abbreviations:

-SL.ST = Slip Stitch
-SC = Single Crochet
-HDC = Half Double Crochet
-Ch = Chain
-Rnd = Round

Body:

Rnd 1: Ch 2, sc 6 in 2nd ch from hook. Don’t turn (6)
Rnd 2: Sc 2 in each st. (12)
Rnd 3: Sc 1 in first, 2 in next, repeat 6 times. (18)
Change to Brown
Rnd 4: In back stitches only, hdc 2 in first st, sl.st in next, repeat 6 times. (27)
Cut, tie off and sew in the remaining yarn.

Tail:

In beige, create a slip knot and pull it through the back connection between Rnd’s 3 and 4. Ch 7.
Rnd 5: Starting in the 2nd ch from hook, sl.st 1 in each ch. (6)
Cut, pull through and tie off, sewing in the remaining yarn.

Embroider on a face with black yarn before you sew on a pin (if you do sew on a pin)

You can buy Louie's cool patterns on Etsy or Ravelry. He also has loads more free patterns on his blog, where you'll soon find my pattern for Boris the Tiny Lion (named by my kids after Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, because they think he's funny!) 

Lionheart Project and Pattern Exchange

 

Well, it's been a while since the Olympics and Paralympics ended, but alongside the inspiring athletes there was some extra inspiration for crocheters. The Cultural Olympiad ran alongside the sporting one, and the Lionheart Project was an amazing example of extreme crocheting. The artist, Shauna Richardson, spent the last two years crocheting freeform 'skins' for three giant lions, which represent Richard the Lionheart's crest of three lions. They've been touring parts of England in an enormous glass case (they're currently at Twycross Zoo) and spent the summer in London at the Natural History Museum. A friend of mine went up to London before the Olympics started and saw them making their way to the Museum:

At the start of the summer, when all the excitement of the Olympics was just about to begin, I was contacted by Louie of Louie's Loops, a crocheter who makes cool and geeky patterns, like Batman gauntlets and an adorable fox hat and scarf combo. He thought it would be fun to do a free pattern swap, where we both come up with fun little patterns and post them on each other's blogs. Of course, the first thing that came to mind was the giant lions that I'd been hearing about, so I set about making a tiny lion amigurumi.

I came up with Boris, the tiny lion, and he came with me and my kids to London, so we could see the giant versions. They are massive, very impressive in real life, and it's easy to see the amount of work in them. I love all the different shapes the artist made as she was creating them.

We (and Boris) also checked out some more famous lions in London, in Trafalgar Square.

At the same time Louis was working on his own lion project, a super-cute mini lion motif that you can turn into a brooch or hairclip, or sew onto whatever you like. Come back tomorrow and I'll post his pattern, and Louie will put up the pattern for Boris on his blog. See you then!

....And The Pussycat

Here's the pattern to make a tiny little cat - only 1.5" tall - that's the perfect pet for my mini amigurumi Witch. Make in the traditional black, or use and colours you like for a different type of cat.

See the previous post for general instructions and abbreviations for the pattern, and details on how to make a mini owl.

Witch's Cat

You will need:
Small amount of black yarn.
1 Pair of 7.5mm green safety eyes, or green yarn to embroider them.
Small amount of stuffing.
3.5mm (E) hook.

Special stitch instructions:
3 dc pop: popcorn stitch for ears. Work 3 dc into 1 st, take hook out leaving loop, put hook through 1st dc & pull loop through.

Start at top of head:
Round 1: Ch2, work 6 sc into 1st ch - 6 st.
Round 2: 2 sc in each st around – 12 st.
Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st, 2 sc in next st, 3 dc pop in next st, 2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 2 times - 18 st.
Round 4 - 7: (4 rounds) Sc in each st around – 18 st.

Fit eyes between rounds 5 and 6, treating the start of the round as the back of the cat.

Round 8: [Sc2tog, sc in next st] 6 times – 12 st.
Round 9: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times – 18 st.
Round 10 - 13: (4 rounds) Sc in each st around – 18 st.
Round 14: Sc in each st around until you get to the middle back, [tail: ss in next st, ch 10, ss into 2nd ch from hook, ss in next 8 ch, ss back into original st], sc in each st to the end of the round – 18 st.
Round 15: Sc in each st around (work into the first ss of the tail, not the second) – 18 st.
Round 16: [Sc2tog, sc in next st] 6 times – 12 st.
Round 17: [Sc2tog] 6 times – 6 st.

FO, leaving a length of yarn. Embroider eyes if you haven't used safety eyes. Stuff and use length yarn to sew up hole at bottom, pulling it tight up through the body to ensure that the cat will sit on a flat surface.

The Owl.....

After I'd designed my Witch and Wizard amigurumis, I felt that they could both do with little pets, or familiars. So I made the witch a little black cat (pattern in the next post) and made a mini snowy owl for the wizard. Of course, when I started taking photos of them, I realised that I'd made the Owl and the Pussycat!

These guys are pretty small, only about 1.5" tall, so that they match with their owners. Even if you don't have a witch or wizard to make them for, they'd still be cute little mini pets. Maybe I'll take my tiny Hedwig to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!

General instructions for both patterns:

Work in rounds unless otherwise stated and do not join rounds unless told to. Use a stitch marker to mark the start of a round - a small piece of different coloured yarn placed under the stitch at the start of the round will do. To start a round, you can use the magic ring method, but I prefer (ch2, work 6 sc into 1st ch). If you work the 6 sc over the tail of yarn as well you can use that to pull the hole tight.

Work through both loops of stitches unless otherwise indicated.

Abbreviations:
ch = chain
st = stitch or stitches
ss = slipstitch

sc = single crochet (US), double crochet (UK)

dc = double crochet (US), treble crochet (UK)
tog = together
sc2tog = decrease by working two sc together

FLO = work in front loop only

FO = fasten off

Wizard's Owl

I have made a snowy owl here but you could use different colours to make a different type of owl.

You will need:
Small amount of white yarn.

Small amount of black yarn for beak.

1 Pair of 7.5mm amber safety eyes.

Small amount of stuffing.

3.5mm (E) hook.

Start at top of head:

Round 1: Ch2, work 6 sc into 1st ch - 6 st.

Round 2: 2 sc in each st around – 12 st.

Round 3: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times - 18 st.
Round 4 - 7: (4 rounds) Sc in each st around – 18 st.

Fit eyes between rounds 5 and 6, treating the start of the round as the front of the owl.

Round 8: [Sc2tog, sc in next st] 6 times – 12 st.
Round 9: [2 sc in next st, sc in next st] 6 times – 18 st.
Round 10 - 13: (4 rounds) Sc in each st around – 18 st.

Find the stitch in the last round that is exactly in the middle of the back of the owl. Count back 5 stitches along the round (not including the middle stitch) and mark this stitch.

Round 14: Sc in each st around until you get to the marked stitch, [FLO sc in next st, hdc in next 2 st, dc in next 5 st, hdc in next 2 st, sc in next st], working through both loops again sc in each st to the end of the round – 18 st.

Round 15: Sc in each st around (work into the back loops of the st in the previous round that were in FLO) – 18 st.

Round 16: [Sc2tog, sc in next st] 6 times – 12 st.

Round 17: [Sc2tog] 6 times – 6 st.

FO, leaving a length of yarn. Using black yarn sew a beak. Stuff and use length yarn to sew up hole at bottom, pulling it tight up through the body to ensure that the owl will sit on a flat surface.