Lucy's Owl - Free Pattern in English and Slovak

Just before my elder sister's birthday she moved out of home, and so as a present she wanted a crocheted animal to have in her new room. I didn't really like many of the owl patterns available and I wanted it to look unique so I made my own.

This owl is incredibly cuddly and because of its cylindrical shape it can stand up on its own easily.

If you notice any mistakes in the pattern please contact me at littleredfoxyarns@gmail.com

This pattern is free for you to make items for yourself, friends and the general population. If you make these to sell I simply ask that you refer people back to my site. 

Materials

3 colours of DK or worsted weight yarn (works best with a light shade, a dark shade and a bright shade)

4mm crochet hook      

2x Buttons approximately 20mm in diameter   

Tapestry needle  

Toy stuffing      

        

Eyes

Magic Ring, Chain 2 

Round 1: 10 Dc in ring, ch 2 (10)

Round 2: 2 Dc in each st , join, attach second colour and ch 2 (20)   

Round 3:  2 Dc in first st, then 1 dc in next 2 st, repeat around. Bind off with enough yarn to sew on  

        

Beak

Row 1: Chain 5 and turn work (5)       

Row 2: Sc into each st and turn work (5)   

Row 3: Sc2tog in first 2 st, sc in next st, sc2tog next 2 st and turn work (3)  

Row 4: Sc in each st and turn work (3)       

Row 5: Sc2tog in first 2 st, sc in next st and turn work (2)  

Row 6: Sc2tog and bind off with enough yarn to sew on

        

Wings

Row 1: Ch 17 (last two ch act as edge)

Row 2: Dc into third st from hook, and each onwards then ch 2 and turn (15)        

Row 3: Dc into next st, and each onwards then ch 2 and turn (15)     Row 4: Dc2tog next two st, dc in next 11 st, dc2tog last two st, ch 2 and turn (13)  

Row 5: Dc2tog first two st, then dc into next st into next 9 st, dc2tog last two st then ch 2 and turn (11)          

Row 6: Dc in first st, dc2tog next two st, dc in next st, repeat from 4 times, ch 2 and turn (7)

Row 7: Dc in each st then bind off with enough yarn to sew on.

        

Body

Magic Ring, Chain 2 

Round 1: 9 Hdc in magic ring, join to first hdc (not the ch2), ch 2 (9) 

Round 2: 2 Hdc in each around, join to first hdc, ch 2 (18) 

Round 3: 2 Hdc in first st, hdc in next, repeat around, join, ch 2 (27)

Round 4: 2 Hdc in first st, hdc in next 2, repeat around, join, ch 2 (36)         

Round 5: 2 Hdc in first st, hdc in next 3, repeat around, join, ch 2 (45)         

Round 6: 2 Hdc in first st, hdc In next 4, repeat around, join, ch 2 (54)         

Round 7: 2 Hdc in first st, hdc in next 5, repeat around, join, ch 2 (63)         

Round 8: 2 Hdc in first st, hdc in next 8, repeat around, join, ch 2 (70)         

Round 9 ‐ 18: Hdc In each st, join, ch 2.     

Round 19: Sl st in second colour, sc in each st, join, ch1   

Rounds 20 - 22: Sc in each st

Round 23: Sl st in third colour, sc in each st, only through back loops        

Rounds 24 - 26: Sc in each st.

Round 27: Sl st in second colour sc in each st through both loops   

Rounds 28 - 30: Sc in each st through both loops      

Rounds 31- 34: Sl st in third colour, sc in each st, only through back loops

Round 35: Sl st in second colour, sc in each st through both loops  

Rounds 36 - 38: Sc in each st.    

Round 39: Sl st in first colour, ch 2 and hdc in each stitch, join, ch 2 (70)    

Round 40: hdc2tog in first two st, hdc in next 8, repeat around, join, ch 2 (63)

Round 41: hdc2tog in first two st, hdc in next 5, repeat around, join, ch 2 (54)        Round 40: hdc2tog in first two st, hdc in next 4, repeat around, join, ch 2 (45)       

See assembly details here

Round 42: Hdc2tog in first two st, hdc in next 3 st, repeat around, join, ch 2 (36)  

Round 43: Hdc2tog in first two st, hdc in next 2, repeat around, join, ch 2 (27)       

Round 44: Hdc2tog in first two st, hdc in next, repeat around, join, ch 2 (18) Stuff any extra stuffing in here to make sure it is plump.    

Round 45: Hdc2tog in each around, join to first hdc, ch 2 (9)      

Round 46: Hdc2tog in each around, join to first hdc, then sl st into 3 st from hook and pull tightly to close the hole          

  

Assembly details

  

1. Sew eye patches onto body and align bottom with round 17. Leave a gap between for the beak.      

2. Attach buttons to centre of eyes   

3. Attach beak, align top edge with round 15.   

4. Attach only the top edge of the wings to round 18. Leave the rest free to move.

5. Stuff with stuffing after everything is attached.     

Please enjoy this pattern! 


Slovak translation was completed by Andrea Laca of http://www.klbkoviny.sk/

Materiál

3 farby DK alebo worsted priadze (najlepšie vyzerá, keď sa skombinuje bledá, tmavá a jasná farba)

4 mm háčik

2 gombíky o priemere cca 20 mm

ihla

PE rúno alebo iná výplň

Skratky

N - nahodiť

PO - pevné očko

RO - retiazkové očko

KS - krátky stĺpik

DS - dlhý stĺpik

KS2sp - zháčkovať dva krátke stĺpiky spolu

PDS - polovičný stĺpik

DS2sp - zháčkovať dva dlhé stĺpiky spolu

Postup

Oči

Magický kruh, N2

1. 10 DS do kruhu, N2 (10)

2. 2DS do každého očka z predošlého riadka, spojiť kruh, napojiť druhú farbu a N2 (20)

3. 2 DS do prvého očka, po 1DS do nasledujúcich 2 očiek, opakujte v celom kruhu. Odstrihnite priadzu a nechajte si dostatočne dlhý kus na neskoršie prišitie očí

Zobáčik

1. N5 a otočte prácu (5)

2. KS do každého očka a otočiť prácu (5)

3. KS2sp, KS, KS2sp a otočte prácu (3)

4. KS do každého očka a otočte prácu (3)

5. KS3sp, KS a otočte prácu (2)

6. KS2sp a odstrihnite priadzu, pričom si nechajte dlhý kus priadze na neskoršie našitie zobáka k telu 

Krídla

1. N17 (posledné 2 RO tvoria okraj)

2. DS do tretieho očka a do každého ďalšieho očka, potom N2 a otočte prácu (15)

3. DS do každého očka, N2 a otočte prácu (15)

4. DS2sp, DS do nasledujúcich 11 očiek, DS2sp, N2 a otočte prácu (13)

5. DS2sp, DS do nasledujúcich 9 očiek, DS2sp, N2 a otočte prácu (11)

6. DS, DS2sp, DS - opakujte 4x, N2 a otočte prácu (7)

7. DS, odstrihnite priadzu, pričom si nechajte dlhý kus priadze na neskoršie našitie zobáka k telu 

Telo

Magický kruh, N2

1. 9PDS do magického kruhu, spojte kruh do prvého PDS (nie do N2), N2 (9)

2. 2PDS do každého očka, spojiť kruh do prvého PDS, N2 (18)

3. 2PDS, PDS - opakujte v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (27)

4. 2PDS, PDS do nasledujúcich 2 očiek - opakujte v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (36)

5. 2PDS, PDS do nasledujúcich 3 očiek - opakujte v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (45)

6. 2PDS, PDS do nasledujúcich 4 očiek - opakujte v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (54)

7. 2PDS, PDS do nasledujúcich 5 očiek - opakujte v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (63)

8. 2PDS, PDS do nasledujúcich 8 očiek - opakujte v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (70)     

9. - 18. - PDS do každého očka, spojiť, N2  

19. PO v ďalšej farbe, KS do každého očka, spojiť, N1

20. - 22. KS do každého očka

23. PO v tretej farbe, KS do každého očka, háčkujte touto farbou iba do zadnej časti očiek

24. - 26. KS do každého očka

27. PO v druhej farbe a KS do každého očka pod obe časti očka

28. KS do každého očka

29. - 32. PO treťou farbou, KS do každého očka a iba pod zadnú časť očiek

33. PO druhou farbou, KS do každého očka pod obe časti očka

34. - 36. KS do každého očka

37. PO prvou farbou, N2 a PDS do každého očka, spojiť, N2 (70)

38. PDS2sp, PDS do nasledujúcich 8 očiek, spojiť, N2 (63)

39. PDS2sp, PDS do nasledujúcich 5 očiek, spojiť, N2 (54)

40. PDS2sp, PDS do nasledujúcich 4 očiek, spojiť, N2 (45)

pozrite si teraz časť Ako spojiť všetko dokopy

41. PDS2sp, PDS do nasledujúcich 3 očiek, spojiť, N2 (36)

42. PDS2sp, PDS do nasledujúcich 2 očiek, spojiť, N2 (27)

43. PDS2sp, PDS do nasledujúciho očka, spojiť, N2 (18) vypchajte sovičku a uistite sa, že je v nej dostatok výplne.

44. PDS2sp v celom kruhu, spojiť, N2 (9)    

45. PDS2sp v celom kruhu, spojiť s prvým PDS, potom PO do 3 očka od háčika a pevne stiahnuť dieru.

Ako spojiť všetko dokopy 

1. Prišite oči na telo, pričom ich spodná časť by mala byť približne na riadok č. 17. Nechajte medzi očami priestor pre zobáčik.

2. Prišite do stredu očí gombíky.

3. Prišite zobáčik, jeho vrchná časť by mala byť približne na riadku č. 15.

4. Prišite vrchnú časť krídel približne na riadok č. 18. Zvyšnú časť krídel neprišívajte, aby mohli lietať.

5. Vyplňte sovičku PE rúnom alebo inou výplňou.

More hats and spinning

Well, while I was away on my holiday I managed to get in some crochet time and so I made another sun hat, this time using the 6-9month patter (http://stitch11.com/6-9sunhat/). This one was supposed to be for my niece but it ended up being rather small, I think it may be due to the cotton yarn being so thin. So this is now going to the little girl whom I made the snail for and fingers crossed it will fit!

This is the result of my drop spindling. I did one strand on the top whorl and one on the bottom whorl to get a feel for them and then I plyed them together. The plyed yarn looks gorgeous, the thick and thin bits when overlapped look really interesting! It would look even better if the strands were different colours or variations of colours. I am incredibly pleased.

This afternoon I dyed the yarn with food colouring and this is how it turned out!

I also currently have a work in progress, I am making a giraffe for a friend, this will be my first paid project! How exciting!

Spinning yarn

So 2 weeks ago I decided to hire a spinning wheel to try my hand at making yarn. It was an old Sheridan, from the 70's or 80's I think. It was a traditional style one, I want to say it was called a Macarthur but I'm not 100% sure. It was lovely, but annoyingly big. After the two weeks I can honestly say spinning wheels are not yet my thing. I struggled a lot but the lady who I hired it from said my yarn was great for a beginner. In the future I plan to try again. I also forgot to take a picture of the wheel. Oops.

Here are some pictures of yarn that I spun, they are all single ply.

This is raw fleece, Corriedale I think? I found it realllllllllly difficult to spin it as it was literally just the wool shorn from the sheep, bugs included.

This is a merino wool top that I bought from somewhere... I can't remember where. This was a lot easier to spin as it has been carded so that the fibres are all parallel. I got this in a couple of different colours. They are lovely.

I did really enjoy the experience and since I am going on my trip for 10 days tomorrow I really wanted to get/make a drop spindle so I could keep trying. I went on an adventure to Bunnings on Wednesday and gosh the staff there were rather unhelpful. But I eventually found some dowel, two weird disk things that I thing were for stair banisters and some hooks. My lovely Father helped me put them together I ended up with a top whorl and a bottom whorl spindle for $12. Last night after we made them I decided to test out the top whorl with some undyed merino gifted to me by Katie (http://www.etsy.com/shop/KardedByKatie), a lovely girl in NSW who I have befriended. She dyes, spins and makes gorgeous baby bonnets! 

I think drop spindles are my calling. I found it sooooooooo much easier to use, and get a more consistent yarn although there are still some thicker/thinner bits throughout it. I love it.

Here are the drop spindles, the one with yarn on it is the top whorl, and the one below is the low whorl.

Here is a close up of the yarn I've done so far. I'm rather proud of myself!

Sun Hat

Hi all,

So a while ago I told my lovely boss that I would be making her two little'ns hats! Her little boy got a dinosaur beanie that he just loves! I haven't got any photos of it though. I am basing a pattern off it that I need to fix up and then do another one, perhaps for my nephew.

But for her little girl, who is very fair, I decided to make a sun hat. I started it ages ago but got distracted by all my other projects. It really only got finished because I needed to get it done before I leave on friday for my holiday.

I used a pattern by Corina Gray of stitch11.com. She has SO MANY gorgeous free patterns. This is the exact pattern I used was http://stitch11.com/toddler-sun-hat/. She has also got the same pattern but for different sizes and I am going to make one for my little niece who has inherited none of her mothers gorgeous Thai skin colour! She is almost as pale as me!

I used a 5mm crochet hook with Panda brand Cotton Blend. I absolutely love using cotton/bamboo cotton. So soft! I also threaded a pink ribbon through the last row before the brim.

Ernest the Owl

Today is my sister's 24th birthday!
A while ago she'd requested that I crochet something for her instead of buying a present and she wanted a pink and purple giraffe  That didn't quite work out due to a lack of nice purple yarn (I shall remedy this one day by dyeing my own). So instead I told her I'd make an owl!

I decided to make this completely on my own, with no pattern to go from. The beginning took forever! I find it difficult to work with very dark yarn because my eyes suck. One thing that was really lovely about just doing it my way is I could use whatever stitches I liked. So I threw in half-double crochet, single crochet (normal and through the back loops) and double crochets. It was really fun and I actually wrote up the pattern, I'm planning on selling it in my Etsy store which is being set up and hopefully opening in December.

Here are some pictures of Ernie (as Lucy has lovingly named him)

Button eyes!

Happy birthday Lucy!

Another Hat

So after I made my green hat I loved it so much that I decided to make the same one for my friend Tobi. Since I tried knitting, 8 months ago, I promised to make her a hat but never did. She'd already chosen wool so I just had to get my act together.
For this one I used a larger crochet hook, a 5 or 5.5mm I think. The hat ended up bigger than mine, which was the plan, and it fit really well.

The flower starting to take shape.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of the completed hat so I will have to get her to take one someday!

I've very excited as tomorrow I am picking up a spinning wheel that I am renting for a few weeks to try it out. After learning to crochet, then decided to dye wool I ended up watching tonnes of youtube clips of how to spin wool and so I thought I'd give it a try!

Snail time!

So I can finally put this one up because the gift has been given to its new owner.

This is a snail from the pattern book 'Crocheted Softies' by Stacey Trock. Her patterns are AMAZING! So easy to understand, I've made other patterns from this book too and they all work out perfectly. The animals are so cute and animated. Love this book, and she is in the process of writing another one! Yay!

So this snail was made for my sisters friend who is having a little girl.

It stands up and everything =)

I used acrylic for the main part of the body as it is sturdier and really holds the shape well. The shell is made from bamboo cotton and is incredibly soft. I used a 3.75mm crochet hook for this. I find that it turns out much tighter and less stuffing leaks out.

I have another snail in the making currently for another special little girl.