PlanetJune Blog: Latest News, Patterns and Tutorials

I’ve been making more shrink plastic rings, and I’ve refined my method so I can produce these:

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I really like how they’ve turned out. And there’s also the added bonus of watching the long strips of shrinkydinks wiggle about as they shrink 🙂

Would anyone be interested in a tutorial on how to make these? Let me know in the comments… UPDATE: Thanks for all the requests! Here’s the tutorial 🙂

I’ve wanted to try making shrink plastic jewellery for months, but I found some lovely rubber stamps yesterday that are only 3/8″ long, so when the stamped images are shrunk they are beautifully delicate.

I made this prototype ring in just a few minutes, to test the concept. It’s not perfect – I’m very inexperienced with stamping so I didn’t quite get the positioning I wanted, and the length shrunk slightly more than I expected, so the ends of the ring don’t meet on the inside, but I think the idea has promise:

What do you think?

I’ll try to make a better one, and then I’ll give you a close-up of the stamped design once I’ve perfected it…

I often get asked how to make colour changes when crocheting amigurumi, so I’ve put together a tutorial with some instructions and tips so you’ll be able to keep your stitches neat when changing colour.

Colour Changes in Amigurumi Tutorial >>

This huge parcel came in the mail for me, all the way from Texas! It’s a very generous RAOK (Random Act Of Kindness) from a fellow Crochetviller:

I love the colours and I’ve never seen any of these yarns before (we don’t even have Hobby Lobby in Canada) so I’m really pleased – thank you to my Fairy Godmother! I am already planning what to make with some of this…

If the sight of rats upsets you, look away now…

Squeak!

Squeak squeeeeak!

Want to make your own? Pick up the pattern from the PlanetJune store, and get crocheting!

I often get asked where to find eyes for amigurumi making. They can be called variously animal eyes, safety eyes, or craft eyes, and can be difficult to locate. If you aren’t lucky enough to find them in your local craft store, there are plenty of online sources.

I’ve started a list of online sources that have been recommended to me and I thought others might find it useful. If you know of any more, or have any recommendations to share, please let me know and I will add them to the list.

Eye Sources >>

Happy Chinese New Year! The upcoming year is the Year of the Rat in the Chinese zodiac, so I decided to design a rat of my own (thanks Jean for the suggestion). I know this won’t be to everyone’s taste, but try not to scream too much…

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My sister Dawn says he looks just like an agouti rat. He’ll be making his way to the UK soon to live with her. She used to have a pet rat, so I know they are actually friendly and intelligent animals.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! Happy Year of the Rat!

PS – If you’d like to crochet your own Fuzzy Rat, the pattern will be available shortly…

UPDATE: Looking for the pattern? You can find the Fuzzy Rat crochet pattern in my shop.

It could take me a while to finish these, so I thought I’d give you a look at my work in progress.

First up is my granny throw that I’m making for the Granny Squares theme on the Crochet Along blog. It’s going to be a cover for my big black leather office chair in my craft room. The chair is very comfortable, but all that black looks a bit harsh and out of place in my room, so I wanted to soften the look of it with some muted colours. These are my colours and square designs:

The yarn is the new Lion Brand Vanna’s Choice – I wanted to use it because of all its yummy colours. I’ve made another 12 squares since taking this photo. 24 more to go, and then lots and lots of joining…

I just started my second project yesterday. I bought a Tunisian crochet hook a few months ago, but haven’t had a chance to learn how to use it until now. I found this project for a cute scarflette on Ravelry and it seemed like a good small project so I could learn how to do Tunisian crochet. I’m using Bernat Bamboo yarn in Dill:

For the uninitiated, Tunisian crochet involves working the entire row of stitches onto the hook (as in my picture), and then working them all off the hook again on the next row. I like it so far, although it’s taking a lot longer than I anticipated, but that could just be because it’s new to me. I am in love with the bamboo yarn though – it is beautifully soft and silky. I think it’ll make a lovely scarf – my neck is very sensitive to a lot of yarns, but I don’t think it’ll have anything to complain about with the bamboo yarn.

I don’t have much time for my crafting these days, so it could be a while before I finish these. But that’s okay; I like having something I can pick up for a while and then set aside to come back to another day.