The Anatomy of a Crochet Aardvark: Super Post - Start to Finish

Here's the progression of Annie Aardvark...

Thanks for reading!

The Anatomy of a Crochet Aardvark: Part 5 - Assemble!

My least favourite part of making amis is the sewing, but this one wasn't too bad.

45 minutes total sewing time... including pinning to check positioning and stuffing the legs and tail.

Introducing Annie the Aardvark!

Isn't she sweet?

For those who were counting... just over 4 hours total time spent.  :)

The Anatomy of a Crochet Aardvark: Part Four - All Parts Present and Accounted For

So I realized just how fragmented my crocheting time is when I was trying to time myself.  It's literally three minutes here, 5 minutes there... the only time I really get a good stretch in is when the kids are eating (or sleeping).

It's Tuesday, and I managed to get the rest of the crocheting done.  That's one ear, all four legs and a tail complete.

And that took 1 hour, 15 minutes.

All I have left is the assembly, my least favourite part.  :/

The Anatomy of a Crochet Aardvark: Part Three - Monday Funday

I do enjoy Mondays, but only because my parents are awesome and take Katie (my youngest) when Isaac has gymnastics.  Then I can craft for almost an hour while he gets his sillies out.  Yay.

Rnds 26-42, 45 minutes

Rnds 43-52 finished the head and body portion, one ear finished, 45 minutes (yay gymnastics!)

So all I have left is one ear, four legs, a tail, then sewing it all together.  (2 hrs, 5 minutes time spent so far.)

The Anatomy of a Crochet Aardvark: Part Two - One Stitch At A Time

I named my Etsy shop One Stitch At A Time because that's how a piece is made - literally building stitch upon stitch one at a time until you are left with something fantastic (hopefully!).  For me, that's the best part of crafting.

I got a bit of a start on my aardvark early Sunday...

Rounds 1-14 done, 15 minutes

Rounds 15-25, 10.5mm eyes added, stuffing added, 20 minutes

That's all for Sunday, but Monday is usually a good crocheting day because Isaac has gymnastics.  Later!

The Anatomy of a Crochet Aardvark: Part One - The Tools

It's been a while since my last blog entry, but I had a brainstorm and just HAD to do this project...  I want to show a crochet project from start to finish, pictures and all. 

This is not going to be a tutorial by any means, more of a demystification of the process that takes such basic ingredients as a hook and yarn and makes something with so much personality. 

A great final product has a lot to do with the pattern (and designer)... designing is a mix of art and math.  I haven't designed anything but the baby lightsaber, which is basically a big tube, but it's a start.  (Side note - the Medicine Hat Stampede and Exhibition has contests for art, and the only category for crochet is the Fibre Arts Original Design... I would love to win, but I have to design something first!)

For this project I will use a pattern by my favourite designer June (of Planetjune).  I love her patterns because they are very well-written, detailed and realistic - everything I would eventually like my designs to be.  It is a bonus that she allows (and even encourages) sales of the finished products from her patterns.  You can find her patterns here: www.planetjune.com/crochetchrisie
(Bonus for me: I'm now part of her affiliate program, so if anyone goes through the above link to her shop and purchases something I get a small percentage in shop credit with PlanetJune.  Cool!)

For obvious reasons I can't share the actual pattern, but I can tell you that crocheting required learning something akin to a new language.  Everything is written in shorthand, and has a set layout that a good pattern will follow.  An average line of a pattern looks something like this:

Rnd 3: (2sc in next st, 1 sc in next st) six times (18)

Translation ~ round three - two single crochet in next stitch, one single crochet in the next stitch, repeat that stitch pattern six times, end round with 18 stitches total.

Anyway, that's probably still gibberish to pretty much everyone and if you're still with me - yay! - let's move on.  :)

So what do I need to make this adorable aardvark?

Brownish yarn, a 3.5mm hook, a stitch marker, two 10.5mm safety eyes, scissors, a yarn needle to weave in ends, polyfill stuffing and time!

I was going to make this all one big post, but I think it will be more fun if you can follow along as I go.  So I'll pause here, and I will try to update you on my progress every day or two.  Hopefully this project won't take super-long, but it should be worth a few posts.  :)

Until next time!