What a funny day it’s been here in Worcester! All week long I’ve been crocheting in the garden in a desperate attempt to get away from the oven roasting experience of sitting in my usual space in the studio. My desk is right next to a south facing window in a terraced house that is firmly insulated on both sides by the adjoining properties. It’s been so lovely outside, with glorious sunshine and sweltering summer temperatures made bearable by fluttering breezes and the shade of a blanket that I’ve strung up as a makeshift canopy. But, just as I’m getting used to floaty clothes and strappy sandals, we have a weird and disconcerting weather wobble. Here’s the view from my studio window at the start of the storm. My poor little canopy is stretched to snapping point by the sudden heavy rain and the crazy hail that followed! (You can see my Grape vine has been enjoying the warm weather, it could be a bumper red wine crop this year!)Then the hailstones got bigger and bigger, battering our clematis into confetti and making the hot spot I’ve occupied in my new deck chair for a lot of the last ten days or so into a definite cold spot that resembles something you might find in an arctic landscape rather than in an English garden at the end of June!
As I wrote about in my last post, Pendleton and Penelope Penguin were complaining about all the heat, so of course they couldn’t resist a little frolic in the somewhat unseasonable, but rather pretty, tapioca-like ice. After all, it’s the perfect opportunity to acclimatise before their intrepid journey to the South Pole commences! If you were a penguin would you be able to resist?Oh they look so at home don’t they?! It must be bliss to cool those flippers down a bit!
Well, I wonder what tomorrow will bring? We did have a big day out scheduled visiting Painswick Rococo Garden in the Cotswolds. Picnic, ginger beer and a bottle of Prosecco are chilling in the fridge, (I might as well have chilled them in the garden!). Sun cream, straw hat and foldaway chairs are packed up in the car – but I’m not so sure I want to go now. Back to Plan B, except I didn’t make one, so certain was I of our summer heatwave! Ah well, it’s the weekend anyway, if the summer scores another epic fail tomorrow I’m sure I’ll think of somewhere else that’s fun to take the family. We might even be going tobogganing at this rate!
I know, it’s the middle of a heatwave and everybody’s feeling all summery. Got to say I’m loving the whole summer vibe but I know a cute couple who aren’t quite so impressed with all this hot weather. That would be Pendleton and Penelope Penguin of course. They’re just not cut out for these kinds of temperatures so they’ve booked a last minute holiday to the South Pole, where they can cool down a bit, chilling with relatives on the way and enjoying icy dips in the sea. Look at them all togged up in their finest antarctic grade thermals – because even penguins can get a bit chilly when temperatures plummet to minus 56 degrees Fahrenheit and there’s only two of you to make a huddle. Yes, that’s the official forecast for today but with the wind chill factor too it feels more like minus 96 degrees apparently. I can’t be the only one with adventurous flippered friends to worry about so if you’re sending any penguins off on holiday soon you can find up to date antarctic weather forecasts here!
No need to pack swimming trunks and costumes for these two. They love a bit of skinny dipping. Well, who wouldn’t want to show off fit and gorgeous bodies like these?!
Pendleton and Penelope have been working out at the local fishmongers eating all the leftovers for months to build up such a magnificent layer of blubber to get their hot (or cool?) beach bodies! Hi Five guys, you’re lookin’ good!
So Bon Voyage little Penguins, and don’t forget to send a postcard or two!
Pendleton and Penelope’s Pattern can be purchased here.
After being rudely awakened at 5 o’clock last Friday morning by Mojo the cat bringing a loudly chirruping starling into my bedroom, I wasn’t going to go back to sleep any time soon so I decided to start early and spend the day giving my Cyril the Squirrel pattern a final run through before I listed it in my online shops. The best way for me to test my own patterns is to leave the whole thing for a while and then to come back to it when I’m fresh and the stitch counts and number of rows are no longer seared into my brain. (Don’t worry about the starling, I rescued it, rested it for a while in a bird cage I keep handy for just such emergencies and it flew off into the sky an hour later). To make the repeating of projects more fun I like to change the colour and/or the hook size to make the whole process slightly different each time. This time I’ve pushed the hook size right down to a 2 mm and am going to make this squirrel in a soft grey and a slightly fluffy cream yarn, both by Rowan and bought from a local yarn store sale for £1 a ball. What a bargain bonanza! Although, of course, this means I buy much more than I really need thus diminishing the money saving aspect. But then again, how much is too much?! I’m sure it will all come in handy sooner or later.
My other favorite bits and pieces and amigurumi essentials are all gathered together into a wicker project tray. So we’re ready to go. The sun is shining and I have a whole day, dedicated to crochet, stretching ahead of me. Bliss. I’ve even got a few extra hours to play with thanks to my Mojo alarm call!
By 10am I’ve had a lazy breakfast, several cups of tea, become distracted by Pinterest and Facebook and also, the main aim of the day of course, hooked up all these squirrel parts. I printed out a copy of the pattern in the end and turned the computer off so no chance of any further internetty time wasting diversions. It’s just too much temptation to have a quick click here and there when it’s on and one of the main things about pattern testing is total focus on the job in hand! The smaller than usual hook choice has been something of a challenge, making my fingers ache a little and proving a tough deal to feed the safety eyes through, but where there’s a will there’s a way and I manage to soldier on. It’s going to be nice to have a smaller version of Cyril to join the crew of my ever growing squirrel family.
A few more hours later and all squirrel parts are completed. Minor tweaks are made to the word file, which is then made into a PDF ready for uploading later.
One of the really fun parts for me is joining all the components together, embroidering on any features and seeing it come to life as a fully fledged character.
But of course everyone knows that amigurumi don’t really come to life. That is, not until the Blue Fairy pays a visit and says those magic words:
∗ “Little squirrel made of twine, awake! The gift of life is thine.” ∗
Hooray! My squirrel is finally really real. It turns out this one’s a girl and she’s called Cheryl. Just like any self respecting, fashion conscious lady rodent she want’s to choose her own outfit. So off we go to explore the yarn stash and see what’s on offer. Hmm, yes I think the red would be perfect too and that fiery orange trim will finish it off a treat. Now measurements are taken and details must be decided. Cheryl doesn’t want a flat cap like Cyril, she prefers a much more feminine wide brimmed sun hat. Back to the drawing board for that one then.
A little more hooking later and ‘Voila’ … Cheryl in her Cherry Red ensemble. We even went and picked some daisies from her cottage garden, one to decorate her hat and a whole bunch for the kitchen table.
If you want to adapt the Cyril the Squirrel pattern into Cheryl the Squirrel here’s a free pattern extra for how I made her wide brimmed hat and the little flowers:
Note: Pattern written in US terms. Us single crochet (sc) is equivalent to UK double crochet (dc)
Hat
With the same sized hook you used for the main pattern and Red Yarn make 2 ch. Rnd 1: 6 sc in second ch from hook. (6 sts) Rnd 2: 2 sc in each st to end. (12 sts) Rnd 3: [Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (18 sts) Rnd 4: [Sc in each of next 2 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (24 sts) Rnds 5-6: Sc in each st around. (2 rounds)
Change to Orange yarn. Rnd 7: Sc in each st around. Rnd 8: Working in Front Loops only: [Sc in each of next 3 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (30 sts)
Change to Red yarn. Rnd 9: Sc in each of next 4 st, 2 sc in next st, ch 6, skip next 5 st, [Sc in each of next 4 st, 2 sc innext st] 2 times, ch 6, skip next 5 st, sc in each of next 4 st, 2 sc in next st. (36 sts) Rnd 10: [Sc in each of next 5 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (42 sts) Rnd 11: [Sc in each of next 6 st, 2 sc in next st] 6 times. (48 sts)
Change to Orange yarn. Rnd 12: Sc in each st around.
Fasten off, weave in ends.
Flower
With White yarn make 4 ch, Slst in first ch, [3 ch, Slst in same ch as first Slst] 4 times. (5 petals)
Fasten off. Make a yellow French Knot in center of flower. Sew to front of hat at the side of one of the ear slits. Fit hat over Cheryl’s ears. Add a little stuffing to shape and with a strand of Red yarn sew Rnd 9 in place to top of head.
Chapeau
Avec la même taille de crochet que vous avez utilisé pour le modèle principal et le fil Rouge.
Faire ch 2. Rg 1: 6 ms dans la 2ième ml à partir du crochet du crochet. (6 pts) Rg 2: 2 ms dans chaque m jusqu’à la fin. (12 pts) Rg 3: [Ms dans la m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suivante] 6 fois. (18 pts) Rg 4: [Ms dans chacune des 2 m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suiv] 6 fois. (24 pts) Rg 5: 6 ms dans chaque m du tour. (2 tours)
Changer de fil Orange. Rg 7: Ms dans chaque m du tour. Rg 8: Travailler seulement sur les boucles avant: [ms dans chacune des 3 m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suiv] 6 fois. (30pts)
Changer de fil Rouge. Rg 9: Ms dans chacune des 4 m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suiv, 6 ml, sauter les 5 m suiv, [Ms dans chacune des 4 m suiv, 2 ms dans m suiv] 2 fois, 6 ml, sauter les 5 m suiv, ms dans chacune des 4 m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suiv. (36pts) Rg 10: [Ms dans chacune des 5 m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suiv] 6 fois. (42 pts) Rg 11: [Ms dans chacune des 6 m suiv, 2 ms dans la m suiv] 6 fois. (48 pts)
Changer de fil Orange. Rg 12: Ms dans chaque m du tour. Arrêter, Rentrer les fils.
Fleur
Avec le fil Blanc faire 4 ml, mc dans la 1ière ml, [3 ml, mc dans la même ml que la 1ière mc] 4 fois. (5 pétales)
Couper le fil. Faire un Point de Nœud (French Knot) Jaune dans le centre de la fleur. Coudre à l’avant du chapeau sur le côté de l’une des fentes de l’oreille. Placer le chapeau sur les oreilles de Cheryl. Ajouter un peu de rembourrage au chapeau et avec un brin de fil rouge coudre au Rg 9 sur le haut de la tête.
Here we have Cyril and Cheryl deep in discussion about the relative merits of vegetable versus flower gardening. Personally I’m partial to a bit of both but not much good at either!
I have a huge soft spot for squirrels it’s true, and Cheryl is the fifth one I’ve made so far. One is in Belgium with the book publisher but the other four are currently living here with me. These are all made with light worsted weight (DK) yarn but I’ve varied the hook size from 3.75mm all the way down to to 2mm. Come and meet the gardening gang!
From left to right we have Cyril, Errol, Beryl and Cheryl.
I do enjoy making these squirrels so who knows how many I’ll end up with?! I’m going to have to open up that second Etsy shop and re-home some of my ever growing cache of amigurumis at some point. Ah, but parting will be such sweet sorrow!
Well, that’s half term over and out. It completely flew by again at lightening speed, like it always does! I didn’t get much amigurumi done as it’s just nice to be with the boys sometimes and not have a head full of stitch counts and row numbers for a change. Even hubby was at home all week too, so some proper family time was definitely a priority. Of course I still did quite a lot of crochet (obviously!) I’ve been enjoying lovely, lazy, hazy, daisy making sessions on car journeys and day trips, at stately homes, on buses, in cafes, at picnics, during barbecues and even in the pub! My travel box of daisy delights can accompany me anywhere and keeps everything nice and clean and oh-so organized! A little box of woolly heaven.
These nosy snails seem to approve! Or maybe they’re thinking what a tasty snack a box of daisies would make. Though I’m pretty relaxed about what they eat in my garden, I’m not quite so relaxed about my crochet. These daisies are definitely not up for grabs. Better shut the lid, quick!
Here are a few of my completed squares. So far I’ve been sticking to a much more limited colour palette than my last Granny Square project. I’ve just used a light and dark shade of blue and pink. I’m liking the fact that I’m being rather restrained in my colour choices this time. Sometimes I have to remind myself that less can be more! My final daisy square count to date is 42. I think I’m about a third of the way there if I decide to make another blanket. Either that or I’ve got four cushions and two thirds good to go which is quite tempting actually. I’m in need of some snuggly cushion covers for the lounge. These could fit the bill rather well. Oh decisions, decisions!
A Blanket?
Or cushions?
Or maybe cushions and a blanket, if my patience and my wool stash can both hold out for long enough that is!
Then the hailstones got bigger and bigger, battering our clematis into confetti and making the hot spot I’ve occupied in my new deck chair for a lot of the last ten days or so into a definite cold spot that resembles something you might find in an arctic landscape rather than in an English garden at the end of June!
Oh they look so at home don’t they?! It must be bliss to cool those flippers down a bit!
No need to pack swimming trunks and costumes for these two. They love a bit of skinny dipping. Well, who wouldn’t want to show off fit and gorgeous bodies like these?!
Pendleton and Penelope have been working out at the local fishmongers eating all the leftovers for months to build up such a magnificent layer of blubber to get their hot (or cool?) beach bodies! Hi Five guys, you’re lookin’ good! 
Here are a few of my completed squares. So far I’ve been sticking to a much more limited colour palette than my last 
I’m liking the fact that I’m being rather restrained in my colour choices this time. Sometimes I have to remind myself that less can be more! 
My final daisy square count to date is 42. I think I’m about a third of the way there if I decide to make another blanket. Either that or I’ve got four cushions and two thirds good to go which is quite tempting actually. I’m in need of some snuggly cushion covers for the lounge. These could fit the bill rather well. Oh decisions, decisions!
Or maybe cushions and a blanket, if my patience and my wool stash can both hold out for long enough that is!