Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Crochet Cactus Garden ~ Free Pattern

There are a few cute cactus patterns out there. I found Nadia's "How to Crochet a Cactus" on Flickr and became inspired to make a few cacti. I even went so far as to make a pattern for these four cacti! They are really quick and easy to make and stand about 6-8 inches tall. Share your pictures with me if you make one!



Materials:
Worsted weighted yarn in Green, Clay, Brown, Cream, and Pink
Crochet Hook G (4.00mm)
Stitch marker
Yarn Needle
Polyester Fiberfill
Finished size approx. 6-8 inches tall

Abbreviations:
ch = Chain
hdc = Half Double Crochet
FLO = Front Loops Only
sc = Single Crochet
sl = Slip Stitch
BLO = Back Loops Only
dec = Single Crochet 2 Stitches Together

Cactus #1 Body:
With Green ch 26, turn
1) Sc in 2nd chain from hook in BLO. Sc in BLO across, ch1, turn [25]
2-27) Sc across in BLO, ch1, turn [25]
28) Bring row 1 up matching row 27 to form a tube. Sc across in BLO of row 27 and in empty loops of chains from row 1. [25]
Finish off. Sew a long piece of yarn through the loops of the top opening of the cactus and pull to gather closed.
Join Brown with sc on any row on open end of cactus. Sc across the bottom of the cactus. Finish off and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff.


Cactus #1 Arm:
With Green ch 12, turn
1) Sc in 2nd chain from hook in BLO. Sc in BLO across, ch1, turn [11]
2-17) Sc across in BLO, ch1, turn [11]
18) Bring row 1 up matching row 17 to form a tube. Sc across in BLO of row 17 and in empty loops of chains from row 1. [11]
Finish off and leave a long tail. Sew the tail through loops along the top opening and pull to gather closed. Stuff and sew Arm to side of Main cactus wherever you want or use the picture for reference.

Cactus #2 Body:
With Green ch 16, turn
1) sc in 2nd chain from hook in BLO, hdc in BLO in next 13 stitches, sc in BLO in last stitch, ch1, turn [15]
2-30) sc in BLO in first stitch, hdc in BLO in next 13 stitches, sc in BLO in last stitch, ch1, turn [15]
31) Bring row 1 up matching row 30 to form a tube. Sc, 13 hdc, and sc across in BLO of row 30 and in empty loops of chains from row 1. [15]
Finish off. Sew a long piece of yarn through the loops of the top opening of the cactus and pull to gather closed.
Join Brown with sc on any row on open end of cactus. Sc across the bottom of the cactus. Finish off and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff.

 Cactus #3 Body:
With Green ch 21, turn
1) hdc in 2nd chain from hook in BLO. Hdc in next 12 stitches in BLO, sc in next 7 stitches in BLO, ch1, turn [20]
2) sc in next 7 stitches in BLO, hdc in next 13 stitches in BLO, ch1, turn [20]
3) hdc in next 13 stitches BLO, sc in next 7 stitches BLO, ch1, turn [20]
4-27) Repeat rows 2 and 3 [20]
28) Bring row 1 up matching row 27 to form a tube. 13 hdc then 7 sc across in BLO of row 27 and in empty loops of chains from row 1. [20]
Finish off. Sew a long piece of yarn through the loops of the top opening of the cactus (the hdc side) and pull to gather closed.
Join Brown with sc on any row on open end of cactus. Sc across the bottom of the cactus. Finish off and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff.

Cactus #4 Body: (make 2)
With Green ch 21, turn
1) sc in 2nd chain from hook in BLO, sc in BLO across, ch1, turn [20]
2-17) sc in BLO across [20]
18) Bring row 1 up matching row 17 to form a tube. Sc across in BLO of row 17 and in empty loops of chains from row 1. [20]
Finish off and leave a long tail. Sew the tail through loops along the top opening and pull to gather closed. Hold both Bodies together with the bottoms facing you. Sew the two pieces together on the bottom where they touch.
Join Brown with sc on any row on open end of either cactus. Sc across the bottom of the joined cacti. Finish off and leave a long tail for sewing. Stuff.

Cactus Pot:
Use this pot for all Cactus styles with the variation of dirt indicated as below. Pot is worked in rounds, do not join or turn at the end of rounds. Use a stitch marker to keep track of rounds.
With Clay make a ring
1) 8 sc in ring [8]
2) *2sc in same stitch* around [16]
3) *sc, 2sc in same stitch* around [24]
4) *sc 2, 2sc in same stitch* around [32]
5) *sc 3, 2sc in same stitch* around [40]
6) sc around in BLO [40]
7-14) sc around [40]
15) sc around in FLO [40]
16) sc around [40]
Finish off. Leave a long tail. Turn down the last 2 rows of the pot to make the outside rim. Use the long tail to sew the rim down to the pot.
Join Brown with sc to any free loop of Round 15.
For all Cacti, sc around the free loops of Round 15 [40].
For Cacti 1 & 4 continue to make a second round of dirt by *sc 2, dec* around. [30]
Finish off and stuff. Using the long tail of the dirt round from the Cactus Body, sew the dirt round of the Body to the last dirt round of the Pot. Finish off and weave in all ends.

Flowers:
These flowers can be adjusted to make the number and length of petals you desire.
Make 1 for Cacti 2 & 3; make 2 for Cacti 1 & 4.
With Cream make a ring; 8 sc in ring, finish off. [8]
With Pink join with sl in any sc. *Ch 6, sl in same stitch, sl in next stitch* around, finish off. [8 petals]
Sew flower to the top of the Cactus Body or arm.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Yummy Banana Split

Anyone have a spoon? I'm ready to eat this very tasty banana split. It's got vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry ice cream topped with pineapple, chocolate, and cherry syrup and whipped cream! You can find this amazing pattern at The Craft Frog "Banana Split." I altered a few things on my split. First for the whipped cream I ran the beginning tail around the stitches at the top to gather the cream and I very lightly stuffed the cream so it would hold it's shape. Second I made the syrup all one piece. You can find the instructions in the first comment. Third I'm not a fan of hot-gluing my ami's together, so I stitched it all to make it one piece. ~♥

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Sweet and Bouncy Toadette

Beautiful, sweet Toadette is another character from the Mario Brothers series. I think she turned out absolutely adorable! By far one of my favorite amigurumis. You can find this and other wonderful Mario Bros patterns at Wolfdreamer "Toad and Toadette."

Monday, July 5, 2010

Mario Bros. Mushrooms

       
I am starting off my Mario Brothers amigurumi kick with the power-up mushrooms. The red Super Mushroom will cause Mario to double in size and strength allowing him to smash through bricks and take an extra hit. The green 1-UP Mushroom will give Mario an Extra Life and are usually the rarest to be found. The yellow Mega Mushroom grants Mario a colossal form allowing him to stomp across the level and crush anything in his path. The purple Poison Mushroom can power down or defeat Mario if he touches it.
  
The pattern for these power-up mushrooms and all things Mario can be found at WolfDreamer "Mario Brothers Mushrooms." I altered the pattern slightly by repeating round 4 of the face two more times.