Think of a colour, any colour, and you can be sure that Camelia has already thought about it, and probably worn it too. She’s so stylish, she looks good in any colour combo and I had lots of fun making her in a variety of different shades.
Keeping the yarn tangle free while working the stripes requires a bit of patient untwisting at the end of every row so it’s always nice to have a cat around to make things ten times more complicated!
So far, I’ve made one with Orange accents…
…turquoise accents…
…and purple accents, or is that more of a magenta?..
As you can see they love to climb so I thought I would take them for a little trip around the river where they could indulge in a bit of bark shinning and practice their camouflage skills too. Here’s how we got on!
First they had a little skulk around in the shadows.
Then we discovered some flower beds.
Pretty purple flowers for a purple toed chameleon.
A dash of fiery orange for this one.
Now the turquoise version proved to be a bit more of a problematic when it came to finding her dream home, but we eventually stumbled upon a rather good compromise in a bed of cornflowers which were the closest sort of blue we were likely to find around here.
The camoflage is a bit more convincing with the sun behind her.
In our ruminations about the possibility of a true turquoise flower we found out that there is actually such a thing on this planet. Its sprouts from the Jade Vine and is a native of the Philippines. Though they do grow in the rainforest biome of the Eden Project too. Either way – Cornwall or the Philippines – it’s a bit too far to travel on what was a weeknight so we ditched the idea of a real live photoshoot and settled for a bit of Photoshop instead.
Not a bad match huh? Now I know that the whole idea of a chameleon is that it fits itself into the surroundings but with this stubborn woolly species I’m afraid you just have to go that extra mile to make sure the surroundings fit the chameleon.
After finding their perfect, or near perfect, flower matches they had a good scuttle up a tree, basking in the very last of the setting sun.
Don’t you just love hot summer evenings?! I do hope we’re going to have quite few more of these yet.
After that it was time to head home. All the attention had gone right to the chameleon’s heads and they insisted I take a few more photos before bedtime.
The purple one was too tired to walk after the river lap so she jumped into a basket and chilled out for a while.
I hung her up in the tree where she could relax in style…
… and wait for the shadows to hide her away…
Now that’s a happy face if ever I saw one!
August 20, 2016 at 5:06 pm
These are so cute, I love their eyes 😊
August 21, 2016 at 5:01 pm
Thanks 🙂 I tried a few different ways to make the eyes but this was by far the one that I liked the best, and it was the simplest too!
August 20, 2016 at 9:08 pm
Very colourful & cute
August 21, 2016 at 4:55 pm
Thank you! Glad you like them. We’ve had a lot of grey rainy days around here this summer so I really felt the need for some super bright colours to cheer the place up!
August 21, 2016 at 6:08 pm
They certainly are cheery
August 20, 2016 at 9:19 pm
I really love the accent colours you’ve used for Camelia – having that choice means a really personalised pressie, doesn’t it?
Is the pattern for sale yet, Hun? 🙂
August 21, 2016 at 4:53 pm
Yes it is Katie, you can find it in my Etsy shop, (or Ravelry/Craftsy/AmigurumiPatterns.net if you prefer) I always get a bit carried away making my ami in lots of different colourways. I get ridiculously excited to make a slightly different version each time! It is a nice touch to make them in the recipients favorite colours too 🙂
August 22, 2016 at 4:10 pm
Thanks Janine 🙂
I’ve just ordered 5 of your patterns, including Camelia – I’ve got most of them now, and am looking forwards to giving them a go 🙂
August 22, 2016 at 7:11 pm
Fab, Katy, thanks for your order. I’ve emailed them all to you a moment ago. Now you can’t be in any danger whatsoever of running out of projects any time soon! x
August 22, 2016 at 7:18 pm
That’s brill 🙂
No, I won’t be as, with these new patterns, I’ve now got well over 8,000 of them (of every kind, I have to say) – but you can never have enough of your favourite amigurumi designer’s patterns, can you? Lol
You’ve got around 20-odd of them I still haven’t got, too! 🙂
August 22, 2016 at 8:45 pm
I’ve had my email receipt from Paypal, and the receipt from Etsy, but no links to download my patterns – are you sending them by mail, Janine?
August 22, 2016 at 9:48 pm
Yes they have been sent by email. The Etsy system can only handle automatic downloads. Sometimes the emails might end up in your spam folder so it’s worth checking in there. If you still can’t find them let me know and I’ll resend them 😊
August 21, 2016 at 1:05 am
Beautiful, even my hubby like them and thinks they are so cute. Are you going to sell the pattern? When where would love to buy it and make him one, it’s not often he falls for something and ask for it to be made. He did ask for this.
August 21, 2016 at 4:50 pm
Hi Emma, I have now listed the pattern for the Chameleon in my Etsy shop. You can find it here:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/471430159/camelia-the-chameleon
I hope your husband likes his woolly chameleon when you get around to making him one. They’re a lot less maintenance than the real thing anyway!
August 21, 2016 at 9:10 am
They are lovely and I know what great ‘help’ it is to have a cat about when crocheting. Mine are very helpful too x
August 21, 2016 at 4:47 pm
Ah, there’s nothing quite like a bit of feline intervention to liven things up a bit!
August 22, 2016 at 10:35 am
What a coincidence that you are making Chameleons! I made one from the ‘Let’s Get Crafting’ pattern in a rainbow yarn, identical to yours but slightly different and won a Gold medal in our Village Show! Yay! Would send a photo but can’t see a way of adding one?
August 22, 2016 at 7:09 pm
Chameleons must be the ‘in thing’ right now! That design for LGC is one of mine as well, so there is probably a bit of a family resemblance! Congratulations on winning a gold medal, you are like a crochet olympic champion now! I’d love to see a photo. Could you post one on my facebook page? You can find me here:
https://www.facebook.com/MojiMojiDesign
February 10, 2017 at 8:51 pm
I made this chameleon for my granddaughters’ toy basket at my house. What a wonderful pattern, both in the design and writing! If you’d like to see it: http://www.2createincolor.com/2017/02/10/meet-carmen-chameleon/
February 12, 2017 at 2:39 pm
Thanks Gail for sharing your pictures. I love your chameleon. That variegated rainbow yarn is utterly gorgeous!
I read your whole blog post too and really enjoyed hearing about the process. The tip about using the yarn tail instead of a stitch marker is great. I’ll be giving that a go myself next time I’m amigurumi-ing. It’s great to learn a new thing every now and again 🙂 I hope your granddaughters love their new addition to the toy box. I feel sure they will!
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May 5, 2020 at 2:38 pm
This is 2020, quarantine time! Your chameleons and the way you have taken them on outings…oh my, it all just makes me so happy! Thank you! Beautiful work!!
May 13, 2020 at 2:01 pm
Well thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed the post. Oh for a carefree stroll around the river and park again! With or without a crochet pal, it would be a pleasure 🙂