Sunday, May 6, 2012

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!

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