PlanetJune Blog: Latest News, Patterns and Tutorials

For my last design in 2008, I wanted one more small dog to complete my ‘mini’ set; a breed with a distinctive look to complete my trio…

The Miniature Pinscher is adorably also known as the ‘Min Pin’ – how cute is that?! My Min Pin is just over 6″ long and worked in worsted weight yarn and an E (3.5mm) hook. You could also make a one-colour Min Pin by just omitting the colour changes.

And here’s the complete AmiDogs Set 4 (Chihuahua, Miniature Pinscher, and Pug):

The Set 4 patterns are available individually for $4.50 each, or $11.25 for the set of 3 – all available from the store right now!

I just realised that, quite by accident, I seem to have developed a Christmas crafting tradition of making poinsettias.

In 2006, I made a kanzashi poinsettia:

In 2007, I designed the famous crocheted poinsettia:

Who am I to break with tradition, even if it’s one I invented myself? So allow me to present the 2008 PlanetJune Poinsettia. This year I’ve gone for a polymer clay (FIMO) variety! It’s just over 2″ (5cm) in diameter, and would make a lovely pin or fridge magnet, or just a pretty decoration.

If you’d like to try making one, I’ve put together a tutorial for you so you can give it a go. The good news is that it’s much easier than it looks! There’s no precision involved; in fact, the leaves actually look better if they aren’t all exactly the same size and shape. As the instructions are quite long (I’ve included lots of pictures to make it easy to follow), I’ve given the tutorial a page of its own: Polymer Clay Poinsettia Tutorial.

This is my first polymer clay tutorial, so I hope it’ll all be clear. Please leave me a comment if you like it! And would you like to see more PC tutorials in future? Let me know in the comments!

I’ve had a couple of requests lately from people who like my patterns, but want to make a larger version. So, the question is, is it easily possible to ‘size up’ amigurumi designs?

There are a few of ways I can think of to adjust a pattern, so here are my thoughts on this…

METHOD 1: Double everything. By this I mean, every time the pattern calls for 1 stitch, you make 2 (so e.g. if Rnd 1 is 6 sc, you will do 12 sc) AND double the number of Rnds (so you would repeat your new Rnd 1 with a second Rnd of 12 sc). Note: this is not my recommended method! It would be hard to keep track of your rounds and stitch counts, when you are turning each stitch into four stitches.

If you do want to attempt it, it should work fairly well, as sc is a square stitch (same height and width) so by doubling the length and width you are essentially making each stitch into a 2×2 square of stitches, but it’s not perfect – if I was designing a double sized animal I would even up the rounds – e.g. this method will give you stitch counts like this at the end of the rounds: 12 st, 12 st, 24 st, 24 st, 36 st, 36 st… If I was designing it I would even it up to something like 6 st, 12 st, 18 st, 24 st, 30 st, 36 st so the increases are made evenly and not stepped every 2 rounds.

METHOD 2: Use thicker yarn and a larger hook. If you compare the blue and grey elephants below, the greys are made with worsted weight yarn and an E hook and the blue is made with bulky weight yarn and a G7 hook. You can see this has made the blue elephant quite a bit larger.

METHOD 3: Double your yarn (use 2 strands held together) and use a larger hook. You can see the effect of this here:

The two turtles use the same pattern, but one uses doubled yarn and a correspondingly larger hook (L instead of G7). The result is a turtle that’s about 1.5 times the size.

Now you could combine methods 2 and 3 to make an ami that’s about double the size of the original, by using 2 strands of a bulkier weight yarn (than the pattern calls for) held together, and a much larger hook. This would be much quicker to make and easier to calculate than method 1, as you would follow the pattern stitches exactly as written.

The downside of using methods 2+3 is that, because each stitch is much larger, the space between the stitches is more noticeable because it’s correspondingly larger. The stitches are also more chunky, so it doesn’t give as smooth a finish as using the finer yarn and smaller hook.

You could also apply Method 2 in reverse to size down a pattern, by using a finer yarn than the pattern calls for, and a correspondingly smaller hook. You can go right down to crochet thread and a steel hook, as shown by bettika67, who turned my life sized guinea pigs:

into the most adorable 1-inch piggies, just by using very fine thread and a tiny hook:

So there you go, 3 ways you could increase the size of a pattern, plus one easy method for reducing the size. This advice isn’t limited to amigurumi (although Method 1 is limited to patterns worked in single crochet). For example, you could turn a pattern for something like a baby hat into a child-sized or even adult-sized hat, or reduce a full-size pattern down to child-sized, by using some of these methods. Hopefully this will give some of you more confidence to attempt some resizing of your own!

Sorry for the blog silence; Dave and I have just got back from our vacation in Hawaii! It was long overdue, and it was wonderful. It was a bit of a shock when we got back home though; going from this:

to this:

Winter really hit while we were away. And our snowblower is refusing to start up… 🙁

Nothing much craft-related to report; I crocheted half a sock on the flights to Hawaii, but was too exhausted on the way back to finish it. We didn’t really do much shopping there either, but I did manage to pick up some locally-crafted jewellery from a Farmers’ Market, some fabric and a book on how to make crocheted leis.

Those polymer clay flowers are just begging me to try to replicate them!

Really, we went to see the local nature and wildlife, and we saw plenty of that – stunning scenery, beautiful exotic plants and all sorts of interesting birds and animals. I won’t go into long-winded details here, but my holiday journal and photos of all the amazing things we saw will all be online if you’d like to live it vicariously through me. I’m still working on the write-ups for the last couple of days – check back there soon if you want to see the rest of the trip…

     

Now I’m refreshed and inspired and now I can’t wait to get back into making stuff, once I’ve finished sorting through the rest of the holiday pics. We had a wonderful time, but it’s good to be back home. Aloha!

My little chihuahua has made a new friend!

I’ve been getting requests for a pug pattern for months, so I thought it was about time I did something about that. Sorry, people who have requested other breeds – I’m still working down my list! I let my ideas percolate in the back of my mind for a while, and then when I can see the design clearly in my head, I start to make it. I definitely have a few more AmiDogs in mind for the coming months, so don’t worry if I haven’t got around to your breed yet.

Anyway, back to the Pug:

Aww, isn’t he a cute little puppy? I hope you think so too.

The pattern comes with fully-illustrated instructions to make the fawn and black pug, and a slightly simplified design (it’s a bit easier to make with no colour changes) to make an all-black version.

If you’d like to make the little pup, the Pug pattern is available right now in the PlanetJune shop! And if you haven’t picked up the Chihuahua pattern yet either, there’s no time like the present…

Here’s a seasonal twist on my origami lucky wishing stars tutorial! Make a pile of stars using strips cut from festive coloured papers (try using offcuts of Christmas gift wrap, or recycle pages from holiday magazines), then string the stars into a garland to decorate your tree.

To make the garland pictured above, I used gold scrapbook paper to make the stars, nylon bead thread to string them onto, and seed beads as spacers. Total cost: under 50c per metre of garland – and it would be even cheaper if you used recycled paper for the stars!

Can you believe it’s almost December already? I’m sure time is moving more quickly this year, don’t you think? The snow has arrived already here in Ontario, so it seems like a good time to start thinking about Christmas preparations.

To get you in the mood, I’ve designed a crocheted candy cane tree decoration. This crochet pattern is so fast and simple, it’ll take no time to whip up enough to decorate your Christmas tree!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

If you’d like to find out how to crochet some candy canes (and I promise they are sooo simple you won’t believe it!) click through to the free pattern 🙂

It sounds like many of you are wondering about the ergonomic crochet hooks I bought a few weeks ago, so I’ll give you my opinions so far. Please bear in mind that this is only based on my personal experience with it (the Eleggant Hooks ergonomic crochet hook set).

First impressions

The wooden egg feels good in my hand. It picks up some heat and is warm and comfortable to hold. I’m not entirely sure where my forefinger and thumb are supposed to rest on the hook – is there a preferred way to hold it? My fingers would naturally rest on the textured area used to open and close the mechanism, but that is heavily textured and not comfortable. I shifted my grip to hold further along the shaft, and that was more comfortable.

The initial problem I see is that this hook design is very dependent on your hand size. My hands are small, and, with the egg in the palm of my hand, I wanted to hold the hook too low down (a crocheter with very large hands may find the opposite). The amount of hook shaft that extends from the mechanism is quite short too, which, once I have my fingertip resting on the shaft, makes it really short. That’s not a problem – it’s just something different to get used to.

When I first received the hooks, some of them had quite a sharp ridge over the head, which was catching and snagging on the yarn. I filed the ridge down to smooth it and it was much improved, although it still seems more pointy than what I am used to, and so more prone to split the yarn.

Hook shape

My main difficulty is with the ‘hook’ part. I am very loyal to the Susan Bates hook shape, but this shape is completely different. It’s thin, pointy, and the shaft is narrower than the size of the hook, which makes it more difficult for me to maintain my usual tension.

For each picture above, L: 3.5mm ergonomic hook, R: 3.5mm Susan Bates hook

If you like this style of hook (closer to a Boye hook) you shouldn’t have a problem with that though. However, the combination of narrow shaft and very pointy tip of the hook meant that the tip would split my yarn every time I tried to draw back up through a loop. In consequence it took at least twice as long as usual to complete a stitch, trying not to snag the yarn as I drew the hook up through each loop, and my tension was much tighter than normal. You can see the result of this clearly with my Christmas PocketAmi: I made the entire snowman with the new hook, and then gave up and used a regular Susan Bates hook for the other two. See how small the snowman’s body is in comparison (even though they all have the same number of rounds)?

I just want to reiterate at this point that this is not a design flaw with the hook – it’s just the style of hook that I am used to. If you like the Boye hook style, you may love this hook shape….

Ergonomics

My main hand problem when I crochet is actually with my non-crocheting hand; the hand that holds the work in place rigidly grips the work without moving for long periods of time, and that is the main cause of my (crochet-related) pain. So, unfortunately, no hook would address my main concern. If you experience pain in your hooking hand or problems gripping a regular hook, I definitely think the egg shape would help you – it is comfortable to hold and lets you control more of the positioning with the palm of your hand, so there is less pressure on your forefinger and thumb.

One point I should note: either because of the hook shape or the egg, I found myself making more exaggerated twisting motions with my wrist than I normally do when I crochet. I wonder if this could lead to a wrist problem in the long term? I really don’t know.

Overall

The kit itself is small and convenient, and I do like the support of the wooden egg. I’m considering buying a new Susan Bates E hook and trying to hack it into the mechanism (the shaft is slightly too wide to fit without modifications) – if that works I would have a fair test to see if my difficulties were caused by the shape and style of the hook attachments, or the design of the system itself. I have a feeling I would really like it with my favourite hook attached, and it may also solve the extra twisting motions I experienced.

If I can get my preferred hook to work with the egg, I will definitely report back – I don’t want to put people off buying one just because I don’t get along with the narrow Boye-style hooks!

I can’t recommend you buy or avoid this hook set – I really think so much depends on the user. If you like the hook style it’s supplied with, you may love it. If your hand is not abnormally large or small, you may love it. If you are lucky enough to have a chance to do so, I’d suggest you try crocheting with one before you buy. I had held mine in my hand, but I didn’t try actually crocheting with it.

Crocheting is a repetitive activity, and as such can lead to repetitive strain injuries. The most important thing to remember – whatever hook you use – is to take regular breaks, and stretch your hands (and probably your arms and back too, if you are like me and end up hunched up over your work). Your body will thank you for it!

Over to you…

Do you have any experience with ergonomic crochet hooks, or solutions for crochet-related hand/wrist pain? Please share in the comments!