The Penguin Pages
Friday, May 17, 2024
The #BlairStitchProject24 begins!
Friday, May 10, 2024
April Monster of the Month
April
Monster of the Month
This month’s monster is a cheerful little guy, with a few different design features. I mix up rows and rounds in the head/body to give it more of a boxy shape. The foot/leg section has a built-in ankle.
Made with worsted weight
yarn and an F hook, he measures about 9” tall.
I used 2.1 ounces of the
main color, less than half an ounce of the accent color, and less than a yard
of white and black for eye accent and smile.
I used 15 mm safety eyes
Start at the top with main
color. First section is worked in rows. Note: the body is done in HDC, while
arms, legs and horns are made in SC
Row 1: Ch 13. Starting in
2nd ch from hook, hdc 12.
Rows 2-4: Ch 1, turn, hdc
12.
Row 5: Do not turn. Add an
additional hdc in the same stitch just worked. Turn your work and work 4 hdc
down the side, with an additional hdc in the corner. Turn work and make 12 hdc
across, with an additional hdc in the corner stitch. Turn and work 4 hdc up the
side. Place one more hdc in the corner. (36: 12 on each long side, 4 on each
short side, and one additional hdc in each corner)
Now we work in continuous
rounds. Use a stitch marker to mark your beginning point to help keep track of
rows.
Round 1: BLO hdc (36)
Rounds 2-8: hdc (36)
Now we go back to working
back and forth. If needed, hdc over to the beginning of a long row.
Row 1: BLO hdc 12
Rows 2-4: ch 1, turn, hdc
12. FO, leaving long tail for sewing closed.
Fingers (make 8 in accent
color)
Ch 4. Starting in 2nd
chain from hook, sl st 3. FO, leaving a 2” tail for attaching.
Arm (Make 2 in main color)
Round 1: Ch 5. Starting in
2nd chain from hook, sc 3, 3 sc in last chain, turn work and sc 2, inc in the
back side of the chain. (10)
Rounds 2-7: sc (10) (See
note below about attaching fingers.)
Finish off after row 7,
leaving a tail to sew arms to body.
After row 2, attach
fingers. Your starting chain will have four small holes. Pull your
starting tail for the first finger through 1st hole and your finishing tail
through the 2nd hole. Triple knot your yarn ends. Trim close to the knot.
Continue with three more fingers. Finger #2 will go in holes 2 & 3, Finger 3 in hole 3 & 4, Finger 4 in hole 4 and the adjacent sc in round 1.
Possible variations: you
can make your fingers longer with a longer starting chain. Since the arms are
not stuffed, you could go up with your hook size to make the arms more
flexible.
Foot (make 2 in main color)
Round 1: sc 6 in mr
Round 2: inc x 6 (12)
Round 3: *sc, inc* x 6
(18)
Rounds 4-5: sc (18)
Round 6: *sc 4, dec* x 3
(15)
Round 7: *sc 3, dec* x 3
(12)
Stuff lightly and fold the
top together. Sc 5 across the top.
Ankle transition:
Ch 1, turn, hdc 5 (5)
Ch 1, turn, FLO sc 5, turn
your work and BLO sc 5 on the other side. (10) Now we will go back to working
in the round again.
Round 1: sc (10)
Round 2: (sc, inc) x 5
(15)
Rounds 3-6: sc (15) FO,
leaving a tail to sew to body. You can stuff the legs or leave them
unstuffed to make him more of a sitting monster.
Horns (make 2 in accent color)
Round 1: 4 sc in MR (4)
Round 2: inc, sc 3 (5)
Round 3: inc, sc 4 (6)
Round 4: inc, sc 5 (7)
Round 5: inc, sc 6 (8)
Round 6: inc, sc 7 (9)
Round 7: inc, sc 8 (10)
FO, leaving tail to sew to
head.
Eyebrows: (make 2 in accent color)
Ch 7. Starting in 2nd
chain from hook, sl st, sc, hdc, dc 3. FO, leaving tail to sew to head.
Place safety eyes between rounds 4 & 5, with 6 stitches between. Before securing safety eyes, place the eyebrows above the eyes to make sure you have enough room. Use a little white yarn to make an accent on the outer side of each eye. Sew eyebrows over eyes, with the thickest part at the center of the face. Embroider a mouth over round 6. Stuff head/body and sew the bottom flap closed.
Sew the horns on the top of the head. I placed mine close to
the outer edges.
Sew legs to the bottom of the
head/body. I positioned my legs so that
the edges lined up with the edges of the bottom of the head/body.
Sew arms to the side of the body,
even with the bottom of the eyes.
Possible variations: add some hair
between the horns: a mohawk, a few strands of yarn, or dreads. To make dreads,
I take about a yard of yarn and pull a loop through a stitch where I want the
dread. Then, using a K hook, I crochet a chain using both strands of the yarn. When
I run out of yarn, I finish off the chain, pulling the yarn nice and tight, and
trim the ends to make them even.
Thank you to Bonnie for testing my pattern for me! Here is her adorable monster!
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
May Goals
Pictured above: Yarn I received for #MYC424
Pictured at right: the 12 projects I finished with that yarn
And I'm off and running... finishing up my April goals with a few days to spare! I will have two craft shows in May, so I'm going a little light on goals for this month.
1) #amibookchallenge - This month's choice is from Mini Amigurumi Animals - a black cat!
2) #MYC524 - I am once again doing the Mystery Yarn Challenge hosted by Lori the Armchair Chef on YouTube. Once I get my yarn, I'll decide what sort of critters are calling out to be created!
3) Monster of the month
4) Bought, not made - I'll be making the Majestic Owl Stuffie by Trifles and Treasures
5) Ballerina Kitty, pattern by Grace and Yarn (the one I made last month sold already)
6) Emotional Support Chicken
7) 5 Pop mushrooms (Mushy Crushy - free IG pattern by Crochet_crochey)
8) 5 Frog Mushrooms
Sunday, April 7, 2024
Monster of the Month - March
Here is my third monster in my 2024 "Monster of the Month" series. Enjoy!
Monster
Design by Elaine Okupski
Of Penguin Place Crafts
Made with worsted weight yarn and an F hook, the March
Monster is about 6” tall and 9” wide. I used 1.1 oz of the main color and .4 oz
of the accent color, plus a few yards for the tongue.
Fingers (make 6)
R1: In MR: 2 Sc in body color, 3 dc bobble in accent color, 2
sc in body color (5)
R2: Sc 5 (5) (For more “definition” to your fingernail, do a
BLO sc over the accent color stitch.)
R3: Sc 4, inc (6) FO for fingers 1 & 2 of each set. For
the third finger of each set, continue on to round 4.
R4: Making sure all your “fingernails” are facing you, work 3
sc on one finger, 3 sc on second finger, then 6 sc on third finger. Work 3 sc on center finger, then 3 sc on the next finger
(18).
R5:*sc, dec* x 6 (12) Add stuffing to fingers.
R6: *sc, dec* x 4 (8) Add stuffing to hand.
R7-9: sc (8) FO, leaving tail to sew. Add stuffing to arm.
Feet: make 2 with accent color
R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
R2: inc x 6 (12)
R3: *sc, inc* x 6 (18)
R4: *sc 2, inc* x 6 (24)
R5: BLO sc (24)
R6: *sc 4, dec* x 4 (20)
R7: *sc 3, dec* x 4 (16)
FO, leaving tail to sew to body. Stuff feet before sewing to
body.
Body: in body color
R1: 6 sc in MR (6)
R2: inc x 6 (12)
R3: *sc, inc* x 6 (18)
R4: *sc 2, inc* x 6 (24)
R5: *sc 3, inc* x 6 (30)
R6: *sc 4, inc* x 6 (36)
R7: *sc 5, inc* x 6 (42)
Sew feet to bottom of body, with the inner part of each foot between R1 & R2.
R8-14: sc (42) At round 12, make a 5-dc bobble at the center
front for the nose. If using safety eyes, insert at round 12, two stitches from
the nose.
R15: *sc 5, dec* x 6 (36)
On round 16, make the ears. To find the location for the
ears, fold the body in half and mark the side stitches.
R16: *sc 4, dec* x 6 (30)
Ears: At marked stitch, ch 7. Starting in 2nd ch from hook sc, hdc 2, dc 3, sl st in same chain as last
dc.
R17: *sc 3, dec* x 6 (24)
R18: *sc 2, dec* x 6 (18)
R19: *sc, dec* x 6 (12) Stuff well
R20: dec x 6. FO, leaving short tail to weave through
stitches and pull closed.
Horns (in white or accent color)
R1: 4 sc in MR
R2: inc, sc 3 (5)
R3: inc, sc 4 (6)
R4: inc, sc 5 (7)
R5: inc, sc 6 (8)
R6: sc (8)
FO, leaving tail to sew to head.
Optional hair: cut
8-10 strands of yarn and loop through top center of head, between ears.
Separate strands
Tongue:
Ch 6. Starting in 2nd chain, sc 4. 3 sc in final
chain. Work 4 sc in back side of chain. FO, leaving tail to sew to face, 3 rows
below nose.
Eyes:
With black, sc 4 in MR
With red: BLO, inc x 4 (8)
With white: Leave a long starting tail to make an accent on the
black of the eye. BLO: *sc, inc* x 4 (12)
FO, leaving a tail to sew to face.
Assembly: Sew arms to side of body, even with nose. Sew tongue to face, 3 rows
below the nose. Sew eyes to face, 1 stitch away from the nose, with the center
of the eye even with the nose. Sew horns to head, next to ears.
Many thanks to Strawberry Bonnie for testing for me!
Monday, April 1, 2024
April 2024 Goals
Okay, I didn't finish February's goals... finished 3 out of 4
I didn't finish March's goals.... finished 3 out of 4
The last full week of March, I only had one item from the list finished... so I made myself a challenge... If I accompished five tasks, I would give myself permission to purchase a pattern I've had my eye on... So I needed to finish the #amibookchallenge dragon from my March list... Make my March monster... publish the February monster pattern, finish the ankylosaurus I was making for the #MYC324, and get an Etsy sale, I could buy the pattern for the Emotional Support Chicken... and I did!
So I'm going even bigger with April! 😁😁10 points!
I figure if I can knock out five items in one week to meet a challenge, I can do 10 items over the course of the month.
So here goes!
1) #amibookchallenge - Random number generator picked my book of reversibles by KnotMonster, so I'm going to make a reversible penguin! DONE
2) #MYC424 - Once I get my yarn from this month's mystery yarn challenge, I'll make at least one item from the yarn. DONE - made an Emotional Support Chicken
3) Artist's Choice bag - back to this again! Back in December, my husband made several bags of yarn in colors that went together... Here is this month's color collection, from which I will make at least two items. DONE
5) Yip Yip - a new pattern I found on YouTube... I want to make two more, then get an Etsy listing up with them.
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Monster of the Month - February
Well, now... this one took a while! I finished version 1.0 on February 10th.
Monday, March 4, 2024
March goals - 2024
Here we go again... it's March! Easter is four weeks ago, so I'm making butter lambs like crazy. I have two craft shows (3/16 & 3/23). I have stuff I planned to do in February, but never finished. So, here we go with some loosely-planned goals.
1 - the #amibookchallenge - I plan on making the dragon from the book Adorable Amigurumi - DONE
2 - Monster of the Month - I still need to publish the pattern from last month, but I have a new sketch for this month's monster. February pattern - published! March monster - done!
3 - Purchased, not made - still planning on making Charlie Horse... Oops, didn't get this done (again)... moving to April!
4 - #MYC324 - I will be receiving a package of yarn from another crafter, and will make items from that collection of yarn
5 - Clear the tray - I have a 15" x 20" tray next to my chair with scrap yarn. It is overflowing. I want to work it down to a nice, neatly organized tray, so I need to use up a lot of scraps!