My Pet Caterpillar or Worm

It's that time of year again when I've been busy making lots of tiny things for the Christmas Bazaar at my son's school. These little caterpillars (which can be fuzzy or not as you choose) or worms, are very quick to make, they don't even need stuffing. I think it's cute to put them in little matchboxes, so they look like something that a kid would pick up in the garden.

My Pet Caterpillar or Worm
Use whatever colour yarn you want your worm or caterpillar to be. If you want your caterpillar to be fuzzy, you’ll need a little bit of eyelash yarn. You’ll also need some black yarn to make the face. 4mm hook.

Abbreviations:

ch = chain
st = stitch or stitches
sc = single crochet (US), double crochet (UK)
dc = double crochet (US), treble crochet (UK)

Special stitch instructions:

3 dc bobble: YOH (yarn over hook), insert hook into second ch from hook, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, *YOH, insert hook into same stitch, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, repeat once from*, YOH, pull through all 4 loops on hook.

 

2 dc bobble: YOH (yarn over hook), insert hook into next stitch, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, YOH, insert hook into same stitch, YOH and pull through loop, YOH, pull through 2 loops, YOH, pull through all 3 loops on hook.

Ch 13, turn.
Miss 1st 2 ch and do 3 dc bobble into 3rd ch, (sc in next ch, 2 dc bobble in next ch) 4 times, sc in next 2 ch, ch 1, turn.
Sc in next 11 st, ch 2, turn.
3 dc bobble in next st, (sc in next ch, 2 dc bobble in next ch) 4 times, sc in next 2 ch, (change to eyelash yarn here if you’re using it) ch 1, turn.

Join the edges with slipstitch, putting the hook through back loop of current row and the other side of the original chain. Make sure you put the original tail of yarn in the inside as you join, you’ll need it to make an antenna. (Keep the start of the fuzzy yarn inside too, it’ll save tidying it up later). Finish off, leaving enough yarn to make the other antenna. This is the head. If it’s a caterpillar, the joined side is the top (I think the bobbles look like stumpy legs at the bottom), the other way up for a worm, so take that into account when you sew on the features. There is an open part at the front of the head, so tie a knot in the black yarn and sew it through from the inside to make an eye. Leave the black yarn hanging and use one of the ends to sew up the front of the head, then make an antenna by sewing once in the same place, tying a knot where you want the end of the antenna to be, and cutting off any excess. Do the same with the other end for the other antenna. Finish off sewing the features, another eye & a mouth (the creature is so small it doesn’t have to be very detailed), take the black yarn through the body & cut off.  You can also glue on small googly eyes instead of sewing features.

Woolly Monkeys

I've been working on all sorts of things over the summer, but not getting many of them finished. Now the children are back at school I'm finally getting on top of everything again, so I'll probably do several posts in quick succession.

 

I started on these monkeys a few months ago, trying to refine a design I came up with back in 2009 (Fuzzy Monkey). I made that with a fuzzy yarn that isn't always easy to get hold of, so I wanted to make the design workable in both smooth and fuzzy, mohair style yarns. For the smooth ones I used a nice yarn that had a bit of texture and a mix of colours to give a bit of extra interest (James C Brett Marble), and I found a nice variegated mohair yarn for the fuzzy ones (King Cole Luxury Mohair).

I tried to keep the design nice and simple, without any detail in the faces. I experimented with embroidered features but it just didn't work. With no particular expression you can imagine they are looking however you want - sometimes they look cheeky, or confident, or friendly, or sometimes a little sad.

Woolly Monkeys are a real species of monkey, but my Woolly Monkeys are a lot more bright, and the stripy tails are just for fun. They are made out of wool (or acrylic that looks woolly!) though, so it seemed a good name.

The pattern is available to buy from my Etsy shop  or on Ravelry.

Yubbla

Here's my latest creature - a Yubbla. These are creatures that live in mossy areas around the roots of trees and rocks. They hop around, eating bugs and fungi, their horns giving them a good defence against any predators. They are very friendly and should be encouraged into gardens, as they are great at eating up pests such as slugs.








I got the idea for him back in the spring when I was looking at some very knobbly trees in Petworth Park.





It made me think of a creature that was faintly frog-like with bulgy eyes and big, round haunches. I drew a quick sketch and added in horns since they seemed to fit. Then I got busy making other things and didn't think any more about it.

Recently I started to make another creature using the green mohair but the shape was wrong. I looked at what I'd done and realised it would make the perfect body for my Yubbla. I found the old sketch and even though I tried out a few different ideas, it ended up looking pretty similar, although I did add a tail to make it less froggy. When it was finished I found it very endearing. There's something about the positioning of the eyes that means they seem to foloowing you around, but in a puppy way, not a creepy way.

This Yubbla is now up for sale in my Etsy shop.