Hurrah! I finished my unicorn pattern last week. This one is very special because she has wings. I’ve heard people say that Pegasus is the only winged, odd toed ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae – but that’s just not true as you can see from my photographs of this elusive and magical creature.

I think the misinformation of a unicorn never having wings has come about simply because the wingless species is seen much more frequently roaming around in its twilight forest habitat than the winged type – who tends to prefer flitting about from cloud to cloud, mainly hidden from people’s everyday line of sight.

In honour of her ringletted mane and tail this unicorn is named Curlicue.

I made her up in a sparkly silver grey yarn first of all before experimenting with a sparkly magenta.

Everyone knows that a unicorn has to be white but it’s wholly acceptable to make yours in a multitude of different mane colours. There’s a lot of unicorn diversity out there. Once you’ve learnt to spot these shy and skittish creatures you’ll be noticing a whole rainbow of them. Inspired by such a thought I tried out a couple of pretty variegated yarns as well.

All the usual stages of pattern designing have been diligently worked through. From the original sketches and yarn sourcing…

…to the working out of stitch counts, special techniques and embellishment details.

Then the pattern testing stage, which is where I always enjoy mixing up the colours a bit to make sure the repetition of making several of the same thing doesn’t get too boring.

Now I have a small herd in different colours all for myself.

I have to admit to loving them all and if I had more spare time I’d like to make a unicorn in every kind of speciality yarn I could find. It is, however, time to move on to some other work for now. Four unicorns in enough to be going on with.

After the unicorn pattern was finished I got busy tidying up my desk in readiness for other work commitments that are due to be starting over the next few days. See, I have my surfaces back!

Tidying as I go along – give or take a day or two – is my new cast iron rule. Though it is very tempting to just rush headlong into the next project and the next ball of yarn, it’s ultimately much more satisfying to do it in a clean and clutter free environment. A neat start every time I’m on the cusp of a new venture ensures I don’t get into too much of a yarn-tangly pickle!

Among upcoming new ventures is is the preparation of my single purchase alpaca pattern ready for listing in my online shops.  (If you don’t want to wait you can get her pattern in the Zoomigurumi 5 book right now).

Just like with the unicorns, I had a great time making these up in a whole host of different colours. However, I think I got a bit carried away with these, even by my own definition, and went overboard with the re-makes. Two others have gone off to new homes as well, taking the grand total of alpacas up to ten! They are very quick to make though, and I adore working with that super soft, fluffy yarn. It gives such great results.

This pink one is a favorite of mine. She’s become a favorite of Charlie Chick’s too.

Over the next week or so I’ll be getting involved in more pattern testing for a new circus themed book from amigurumipatterns.net. I’m really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I’ve got two different designs going into this one, both of which I’ve sent off to the publisher already so it’s only a case of making whatever tweaks are necessary after the other testers have run through the patterns.

The trapeze mice have had their second incarnation.

And so have Diggory and Dave, the lively little dancing dogs.

This could be the most colourful book to date. I think you’re going to love all the circus accessories and fancy outfit details that accompany each character.

Here’s a sneak peak at the front cover flanked by my two contributions to give you a feel of all that Big Top Magic coming your way. I’m very excited about this one and can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s all put together!

My spare time project – the Spring Circles blanket is making progress too. I have an audience of fascinated quadrupeds who are all very interested in what’s going on.

I sure have plenty of things to keep me busy right now. There’s never a dull moment around here so long as there’s a hook and some yarn to hand!

It’s lunch time for the unicorns, looks like they’re having a meal of golden hay and daisies. Sounds delicious, but I’m off for a more mundane cheese and pickle sandwich myself.