Discworld update
See my Amigurumi Discworld info page.
Thank you so much for the Discworld love; I’m so happy you get what I was trying to do here. I also have some news: I contacted Terry Pratchett’s agent, to ask if there was any possibility that Terry could see my Discworld, and Colin kindly agreed to show the pics to Terry. And I have a reply from Colin about Terry Pratchett’s reaction:
He gave a quiet laugh and said, ‘Well, if you’re going to crochet Discworld then that’s the way to do it!’
Thank you, Terry! (And Colin.) This has made my day!
I thought I would share my happiness by revealing some more details of my Discworld project. I’ve had several requests from people wondering how I managed to accurately crochet in the landmasses of the Disc. I’m not intending this as a tutorial or method for you to follow – I just thought you might like to see the crazy method my mind came up with to crochetify the Discworld 🙂
First, I started by crocheting a plain blue circle for the underside of the Disc. I scanned this into the computer. Then I used the Discworld Mapp to sketch (with pencil and paper) a map of the landmasses and a rough guide for my colour changes. I scanned this into the computer too:
I edited my sketch to remove the white background and darken the lines to black to make them easier to see. I resized the two images so they were the same size, and then layered the map over the crocheted Disc:
Now for the slow part… but I figured it was better to make the mistakes digitally than to have to rip back when it came to the crocheting part. In my graphics software, I picked a paintbrush that was about the same size as one crocheted stitch, then began to colour in my map onscreen. I kept the coloured layer translucent, so I could still see the stitches beneath. Here’s a close-up, and the complete digitally-coloured map:
Lastly I turned off the black sketch layer, and printed my ‘pattern’:
With all that work done, I just had to reproduce my digital crochet in reality! No secret method here – just careful counting and colour changes.
When I had finished, I crocheted both discs together around the edges, to keep it together and give a subtle Rimfall effect. I also stitched the two discs together at various points across the surface (with blue yarn in the blue areas only, so it doesn’t show), to avoid any problems with it trying to puff up in the middle – it’s called the Disc, not the Lens 😉
Oh, and you may also be able to see from this pic that I used a variegated green yarn, so I chose the lighter green parts of the yarn to be closer to the Hub, fading to darker green towards the Rim. I just thought it added a little more depth:
That’s it! As I said before, it really was a labour of love, and it took much longer to design than to actually crochet! And now I can say it’s officially Pratchett-approved 🙂
You can, of course, buy the patterns for my Turtle and Elephants, if you are so inclined.
I hope you enjoyed this insight into the unusual way my mind works. Please leave me a comment if you did…
See my Amigurumi Discworld info page.
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haakdraakje said
I bow in awe! The work and patience it must have taken to chart the world!
Petra said
Great Great Great!!!! You are so good!!! Amazing!
Jinx said
This is superb! One of the finer Discworld homages I’ve seen. And so inspiring; I might just get my yarn out!
Thanks for sharing your method, it’s a good one!
Margaret Deuchars said
How very clever you are! My husband and 3 daughters are avid discworld fans. I will do one; but may have to do three. Should keep me out of mischief during the winter
abigail said
i absolutely LOVE THIS it’s amazing !! I was wondering if i could buy one, i’ve tried and tried to crochet but i cannot do it but i would love one of these i’m a massive terry pratchett fan !! by the way your work is so cool
June said
Thanks Abigail! I’m afraid I can’t make another to sell you – it represents about a week’s full-time work and the price tag would have to be astronomical to cover my time!
Angelique said
This is the most amazing piece of Pratchett fan art I have ever seen! (+!!!!!!!!) Oh dear god I must have one (@ u @)
Mike Schultz said
The only possible addition I can think of is to add threads of water pouring off the sides of the disk.
Amazing job!
Rocky Frisco said
That is totally beautiful! Well done! I’ll bet you could sell those for big dosh.
Margaret said
I just saw a post about your work in afp, and had to come look. That is completely delightful! I’m envious.
Fiona said
I LOVE your crocheted Discworld! The disk looms like it took a lot of design work. I knitted a Discworld hot water bottle cover recently using intarsia and a variegated yarn for the continents and islands.
If you’re on Ravelry you can check it out on my projects page – “Finarda”.
Dawn said
I am absolutely hopeless at crocheting, but this is gorgeous and geeky enough that I feel compelled to give it one more try…
Camille said
I came across this hunting Ravelry for the component parts to make my own version of the Discworld, only to find that someone had made EXACTLY what I was picturing. Your pattern and my pattern-following-skills are going to make a geeky British serviceman very, very happy. Thank you. 🙂
Betty said
Hi there June,
I came across your wonderfull A’tuin through a link on Discworld Monthly. It’s awesome… I’ve known how to crochet for many years already, but I had never heard of amigurumi before. I’m certainly going to give it a go and if it sticks I will try my hand on your Discworld design. It’s marvellous!
Cheers from a Dutch Discworld fan.
Emily said
June, this is absolutely the cutest Discworld thing I’ve seen in awhile. I love the detail! So cool. 🙂 I see you posted this several years ago, so I’m surprised I haven’t come across it before. But better late than never, I’ll say: I wish I had one! 🙂
Mandie said
Wow, this is amazing! I’m a big Terry Pratchett fan and found this when I was googling discworld crochet. I was thinking about crocheting a model of the discworld, so I will borrow from you for inspiration if that’s okay! It will go on my list of things to crochet.
Tina said
Hi, June – I couldn’t resist trying this myself — I basically just did my best to copy the disc from your photo; it’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud.
Some pictures:
www.flickr.com/photos/bracelet/4686721886/
www.flickr.com/photos/bracelet/4686721878/
www.flickr.com/photos/bracelet/4686721866/
My disc isn’t perfectly flat (although I actually put a piece of cardboard in between the top and bottom to help with that), but my husband Ray (the big Pratchett fan in our family — I made this for him) says that there’s a mountain at the middle anyway, so I’ll call it a feature. 🙂 I also suck at sewing bits on stuffed animals and found it especially difficult to get all the elephants positioned right and the disc centered on top of them. Still, Ray loves it and that’s what matters!
Thanks for the really awesome design!
June said
I’m glad I inspired you, Tina, and you enjoyed my patterns! The bump in the middle of your disc looks totally intentional – just like Cori Celesti 😉 Great work, and thanks for sharing the photos!
Konigotes said
S
Rose said
Its really cool but what is disc world? and what software did you use for the patttern?
June said
Discworld is a series of books by Terry Pratchett – I gave more info in my previous Discworld post! And I used Paint Shop Pro, but you could just as easily use Photoshop (or any graphics software with layers) to do the same thing 🙂
becky brockman said
still my favorite one of these days I will make this when i am all grown up
Anita said
amazing!!
Tina said
Cool, thanks — I will definitely post a picture on Ravelry and a comment here if I manage to pull it off, and of course I’d credit you! This is one of the cutest, cleverest things I’ve seen in a while!
June said
Tina, of course I don’t mind if you try making a Discworld of your own! If you show your finished creation anywhere, I’d appreciate credit as the designer of the elephants and sea turtle and the originator of the crocheted Discworld concept. And I’d love to see a photo!
Tina said
Hi, just came across this from Ravelry. I’m not a Pratchett fan myself, but my husband is, and he thought this was really cool. So I bought the elephant and turtle patterns so I can try to make him one for his desk. Since you posted this I gather that you don’t mind if people try and copy you? 🙂
June said
Starling: Yes, the finished size of the elephant pattern is given for an elephant made using bulky weight yarn. I made the 4 Discworld elephants with worsted weight yarn and a smaller hook, so the finished elephants are smaller. Hook and yarn instructions for both sizes are given in the elephant pattern 🙂
Starling said
Wow, that’s amazing. A question about the patterns, though. The elephant pattern says that it’s 6″ long, and the turtle pattern is 11″ long. That makes the elephant a little over half the length of the turtle, but these little elephants look much smaller. Did you do them in a smaller hook/yarn size?
Bonita said
That is an awesome job. It is simply amazing. I do have a question. How do you make your turtle pattern bigger? I make small amis, but I havent figured out how to take the same pattern and make it bigger. Thanks.
Bonita
June said
Bonita, see my tutorial on Sizing Up (and Down) for the answer to your question!
anna hull said
you should seriously sell those! I can’t crochet so a pattern is no use but i’d buy that off you at the drop of a hat!!!!
do you do commissions?
Melody said
Wow! I saw the pic you posted on Crochetville and had to come here and see. You are very creative and I am glad the author liked it! 🙂 Way cool!
greatartuin said
Just can’t explain how fabulous this creation is. Needs recognition.
mtlaise said
I just saw this on someone’s wists, and had to come check it out. This is awesome!
stephanie peachey said
simply amazing.
Henriette Olsen, Denmark said
Oh my god! Wow!! I just have to pick my jaw up from the floor. You are an amazing artist!!! Thank you very much for the help, using fuzzy-yarn.
Mrs Peculiar said
This is marvellous stuff – well done! Along with the Pratchgan, Mr P now has no lack of beautifully made tribute crafts 🙂
Expect a link in this month’s WOSSNAME ezine…
Leanne said
I love this design. Thank you for showing us how you did it. And Congrats on the letter 😀
*hugs*
Cocuklacocuk said
Wonderful. Conguralations for your work
Nadine said
How Awesome! Thank you for showing us how you did the disk. I just need to get the patterns now for the sea turtle and elephants (waiting for payday). I think my Hubby would love to have one of these sitting around the house.
And it is so cool that Terry Pratchett got to see your pics and liked it.
kris said
very unbelievable! it really was a labor of love!!! you will never cease to amaze me.
Shanna said
Very cool way to design the map. I have done similar things with cross stitch, but never with crochet.
I knew Terry would like it if he saw it. Heck, how could he not have liked it?!
Carina said
Oh yeah! You rock! And so does your mind! (-;
Pattie said
That is so amazing, all the work you put into creating the pattern. You’re a brilliant artist. And I’m totally geeky jealous that you got Mr Pratchett’s approval! That is so awesome all around. Wow.
Julia said
Hey!!!
That
Expat Mom said
How cool that Terry approved it!! Though I don`t see how he couldn`t . . . it`s an amazing piece of art. Good thinking on the pattern design, I`m very impressed, that wouldn`t have occurred to me even though I use Photoshop all the time. 😀
anne said
I’m so impressed! Your Discworld is awesome! It wouldn’t have occurred to me do a chart like that. I’ll have to remember it for the future.
Jessica said
Wow–so awesome that you got feedback from Terry on this! Loved the insight into how you put this together–genius!
Jana said
VERY neat! Computers are a great thing, aren’t they? I don’t know how we lived without em!
Josefin said
As I think I said before, you have done such an amazing job!!
And how cool that Pratchett liked it! I can totally understand that made your day! 😀
eve said
what can I see, a geniOus at work…. just awesome June!
amber said
That’s really great June! Thanks for explaining the method you used. I must play with my computer’s software sometime to see if I can make a pattern this way. Sometimes the pattern is more work than the actual craft, I’ve found this with Perler bead projects before.
Also, wonderful the comment you received from Colin about Terry’s reaction to your piece. He always seems like very kind and personable author.
Kari said
That is so cool, and just another reminder of great an artist and crochet-er you are!!!
Lindy said
Amazing! You are incredibly talented and gifted, and a real artist. Brilliant work!