A herd of sea urchins

I sell my crochet creatures in a tiny shop by the sea in the village of Plockton in Highland Scotland. Over the years I have developed a number of self-penned patterns (crabs and jellyfish for example) and added in some other sea-life from patterns I have found on the internet. What I hadn’t realised was that there are apparently some people who collect these creatures, and come in year on year looking for what is new. So, in response to various requests I have made a sea urchin or two – new for 2024.

The original pattern came from Yvonne at Bokkyshome (here). Her pattern is for the outer shell, and I then made up a sort of inner tube, increasing out to form the base of the shell so that it could be stuffed, which I think makes it a bit more robust for small hands to play with.

The variegated yarn felt just right for the job – it’s Stylecraft Impressions in shade 5401 ‘Grand canal’. Its an aran weight yarn but I think I used a 4.5mm hook as that’s what’s suggested on the ball band.

The shop will be opening soon for the summer season, and I’ll let you know if they prove to be popular.

Ombre octopus and dishcloth

I feel I have gone through a bit of a crochet drought recently, then (like buses) two new projects come along at once..

They are both made with a single ball of Ricorumi Spin Spin dk in blue (010). The dishcloth has a starting chain of 33 and is made using a half treble cluster stitch that I found on The Crochet Swirl blog. Mine is made on a 4.5 mm hook, weighs 32g and measures 20cm square.

The remaining 18g of yarn was just enough to make an octopus using a 4mm hook. (The original pattern is here if you are interested, though I have modified mine a bit!)

I do have a recipient in mind for these, but Shhhhh… It’s a secret!

Penguin fun

I have been having some fun with amigurumi recently, and have had a go at making a penguin:

The pattern is from Kerry Lord’s crochet animals book ‘Ocean’ and mine is made with Scheepjes merino soft in Raphael, Michelangelo and Pollock on a 4mm hook.

The pattern is described as ‘Intermediate’ in difficulty, and I would agree. Particularly the carrying one yarn behind the other technique for the head!

Now we are sixty(ish)

One of my childhood toys was a knitted rabbit that I called ‘Armless Rabbit’. Recently I decided to make a crochet copy of him:

The name arose because it is the arms of his (her?) jumper that are stuffed rather than the rabbit’s arms themselves, so removing the jumper reveals an armless torso! Anyway I think he is rather sweet, and as I calculate that he is almost 60 years old now, it seems that the design has stood the test of time!

A spring in my step

This little parcel of goodies is on its way to a friend, who commissioned them as a baby gift.

Elephant in Scheepjes stonewash XL ‘coral’ (856), Top knot baby hat in Stylecraft Batik elements ‘magnesium’ (1940) and wash cloth in even berry stitch in Rico creative cotton aran ‘corn’ (25).

I love the non-traditional baby colours, and I think they look quite spring-like.

The animals went in two by two

I have been meaning to have a go at these little crochet elephants for some time, and am so glad that I have now made some:

The pattern I used came from Irene Haakt here, and there is also one available on Ravelry by Studio Madelaine here. Mine are made in Erika Knight gossypium cotton in Gift (503) on a 4.5mm hook, and some 4-ply grey cotton from my stash on a 3.0 mm hook. The large elephant weighs 30g, and the small one 15g.

I now have an order for some blue ones to be getting on with – watch this space!

Fossil time

I had a little go at making some ammonites for fun:

Based on a pattern by PauPaul called ‘Ammonites of Cap Blanc-Nez‘ on Ravelry. I made mine in Drops Karisma dk light grey mix on a 4.5mm hook, and West Yorkshire Spinners Aire Valley Aran Prints ‘Rum paradise’ on a 5mm hook. The grey one ends in a circle of 32 stitches, and the multicoloured one ends in a 24 stitch circle.

It’s a simple pattern using UK double crochet but working into the back loop only to create a ridged effect. I think if the knitters shop was open (which it isn’t!) these would sell well..

Mini sea creature mobile

I have been asked by a friend to produce some sea creatures, of a size suitable to make a mobile with, so I have come up with some mini-versions of my crab, starfish, jellyfish and octopus patterns.

The turtle is a commercial pattern available here, and the other creatures were made to a similar scale. They are made in Scheepjes stonewashed (Carnelian, Coral, Amazonite, and Turquoise) except the jellyfish which is in Malabrigio arroyo (Lotus) and some old Rowan wool-cotton 4 ply (Violet), using a 4mm hook.

I am looking forward to seeing it assembled, and maybe even a photo with the new baby….

March challenge – a tumble of turtles!

Apparently the collective noun for turtles is actually ‘bale’ but I like the idea of them tumbling towards the sea after they have hatched, so I have renamed mine…

Made in Scheepjes stonewashed XL in Turquoise (864) and Amazonite (853) on a 6mm hook. I made the pattern up but if you want a nice straightforward turtle pattern in 4 ply yarn I can recommend Tracy Braybrook’s no fuss turtle pattern on Ravelry here. I made hers first so I could get an idea of the proportions then winged it with the XL yarn afterwards – just for fun!

February challenge – crochet starfish

I set myself the challenge of creating some new sea creatures this year – and this is my first one…

The design is modified from a pattern by Barbara Summers who blogs at Microcknit creations
Mine are made in Scheepjes stonewashed Rhodochrosite (875), Morganite (874) and Coral (856) on a 6mm hook. Each one weighs about 15g.
My next project is something with a shell… Any guesses?

Eight is a lot of legs

I came across some mini balls of Ricorumi recently, and somehow they said ‘octopus’ to me…

Made in Ricorumi DK cotton in Rose (008), Vanilla (005) and Light blue (033) on a 4mm hook. I used the pattern by crochetforbabies and had a bit to spare from each 25g ball. I would happily make more – my only problem is there are 60 shades to choose from!

August challenge – little octopi

My August challenge has been on my ‘to do’ list for nearly a year, when you may remember I had my first attempts at making a crochet octopus (here and here):

I loved these octopi, but the pattern was hugely time consuming with eight very long tentacles, and turned out not to be very reproducible in my hands, with huge variations in size and shape between octopi. So I told myself that I would find another pattern and try again…

This pattern is adapted from one at crochet for babies here, and has a pleasing symmetry to it, so the counting doesn’t get too arduous. I made the tentacles using a chain of 30, which is not only quicker, but also safer for small babies as it is too short to wrap round their necks apparently. Anyway as you can see I have made quite a few of these now, and I am pleased to say that they are swimming off the shelves as fast as I can make them!

Each octopus took 15g of dk cotton, and I used a 4mm hook. The original pattern is in US terms so if anyone would like a UK translation leave a message and I will post one.

Playing by the sea

I have now made three preemie octopuses so we decided to take them for a play by the sea:

As you can probably tell, great fun was had by all!

Preemie octopus

There has been a little flurry of interest in the news recently about providing premature babies with octopus-like comforters. I found a free pattern for one by Deniza’s toys here and set to:

The pattern is really easy to follow (though naturally I did modify it a bit!) and gives you a 25cm long octopus working with double knitting yarn.
If I did it again I might use treble crochet to make the spirals more substantial, but the double crochet ones are in proportion with the body size so that would need some thinking through.
Made in Sirdar snuggly pearls dk turquoise and Hayfield baby sparkle dk little mermaid on a 4mm hook.

A commercial break

What do crabs, spiders and dishcloths have in common?

Well they are all selling faster than I can make them, so it has been necessary for me to have a short break from making charity blankets in order to re-stock the shelves.

Crab season

According to the BBC Good Food website crab season in the UK is from April to November. I guess it comes a bit later in Scotland because these are my first of the year:

Oh – and the yarn packs have arrived too!

Feeling nippy?

Not a reference to the weather (which is wonderfully warm for this time of year in Scotland) but to my latest crochet project – which is a lobster:

The pattern is from ‘Crochet one skein wonders’ by Judith Durant and Edie Eckman, a book which I feel sure will be the inspiration for several projects to come. I did modify the pattern slightly – by putting pipe cleaners in his claws, and making the tail rather longer than was suggested, but overall it was an easy pattern to follow and very satisfying to make. He is made in Scheepjeswol stonewashed 4 ply ‘Carnelian’ on a 3mm hook (I think!) and he is really rather lovely.

A trip to the seaside

I have been playing around with making some more crabs recently, and took them on a trip to the seaside to take some photo’s!

Made in Scheejeswol XL ‘Carnelian’ on a 6mm hook. The jury is out as to whether I prefer the red, or the more natural coral colour (see here), but I thought the red would appeal to children.

What do you think?

And the winner is….

Nana Cathy – who will soon be the proud owner of a crochet spider.

Congratulations Cathy! Please send me a note of your GPO address and I will pop it into the post for you.

Nip and Tuck

A couple of people recently have looked at my spiders and thought they were crabs. I am not quite sure why (Do you get black crabs?) but it has prompted me to have a go at making some:

It turns out that crabs have eight legs plus two pincers, so they were a bit more fiddly than the spiders, plus I had to strengthen the pincers with pipe cleaners. Made in scheepjeswol Xl in coral on a 6mm hook. I have called them ‘Nip’ and ‘Tuck’
Now will anyone mistake them for orange spiders?