Raindrop The Fox - Another Christmas Project

Say hello to Raindrop the Fox

Ron got an orange skein of yarn in his stocking. Why? Because he likes foxes. I've wanted to make him one for a while, but have been busy with other projects.

A few years ago, a friend and I came across this series of amigurumi crochet patterns. The animals in them are SO CUTE!!! I think we could happily make at least one of each. Here's the book Raindrop is in.

Pattern book

Here's the back, it shows some of the other projects in the book...

See! adorable!

We had plans to go camping over New Years, and I knew I would enjoy a crochet project so off we went, with hooks, and yarn and even fiberfill, But I didn't think of packing the eyes and nose I would need to complete this guy, so I ended up getting all the parts complete, but not actually constructing the fox.

Getting started

Since crafting and making are a learning process for me, I'm not embarrassed to show my mistakes. And man, did I make one! I put the eyes on too far to one side, and yes, it made a difference because the head had cheeks crochet stitched in for shape, and that put the whole thing off kilter. I took the backs of the eyes off and moved them, then stitched the muzzle back on, and the pink cheeks, and he looked much better.

Wonky Face

PARTS!!

But soon enough I had Raindrop all stuffed and sewn together, and even embellished. 

Belly Button and all!

I used worsted weight yarn instead of the sport weight the pattern called for, so my fox is larger than the pattern would normally make, but I think it turned out well, and still pretty well in proportion, which isn't always true when you change elements like that. I chose a pretty small crochet hook for the yarn, and I think that helped, but I think I'll look through my sport weight yarn to see which of these patterns I'm going to have a go on next!

Happy New Year of Projects!

 I was busy with a lot of projects through the fall, including Christmas gifts, which is where I'm starting for this first post of the year.

Linda (my mother in law) and Scarrie (my sister in law) suggested that I make them bowl cozies this year. What are those? you may ask, like I did. I pictured some kind of quilted cover, like teapots can get. But then I did some research.

Bowl cozies are indeed quilted, but you use them to protect your fingers from a warm bowl after you warm the bowl and its contents up in the microwave. Yes, if you make them out of the right materials - all cotton, for example - you can even put the cozy safely in the microwave with the bowl. Handy if you're microwave isn't at countertop height. I found several patterns, and decided to go with this one, from SewCanShe. It seemed pretty straight forward and do-able. 

I started in November, with making a set for my sister-in-law Naomi, who has a birthday that month. Her set has a loop, which I didn't keep adding, as I made more, and more... and more of the cozies.

Naomi likes birds!

Then when a friend of mine had her knee replaced, I figured bowl cozies would be an excellent addition to her kitchen. Soup is a great healer!

Eight made so far...

Then I got busy on the Christmas gifts. They took some time to cut out, with two layers of fabric and one of batting - get the Wrap and Zap if you want it to go in the microwave! You have to cut some darts to get the cozy to have its "bowl" shape. I made sets of four, with a few exceptions for twos, and ONE larger one on a special request from my brother. If you want to make them, remember to use cotton fabric AND cotton thread. I went through a lot of cotton thread! By the time I was done for the season, I had made over 3 dozen bowl cozies! (of course I made a set for us, too!)

Stacking up for giving!

Although they take a bit of time to prep for sewing, the sewing goes pretty quickly. I took the time to zig-zag the outer edge to help stabilize that outer edge and keep it neater. And, they should go in the washing machine well, too! I would be willing to tackle these again, and I think they made a great inexpensive, handy gift!