sleepy cat finished
my pellets arrived today so i finally got round to stuffing and finishing my amigurumi cat. i’m very glad i crocheted so tight (dk yarn, 3mm hook) as the pellets are pretty small and could probably come out through the fabric if i’d used a standard hook for the yarn.
to keep the pellets in the end of the limbs, since they aren’t stuffed, i stitched across the openings where they narrow (not tightly, just to make a kind of spider’s web across the inside). the stitches are barely noticeable to the untrained eye, but you can see them if you’re looking out.
the arm and tail placement is majorly skew-wiffy but i think that adds to his rakish charm. the muzzle is a little low and has come out squarish rather than oval. i’m not overly happy with his features either. i wanted to use some of the different colours of yarn to tie the scheme together, but the green isn’t as much contrast as i’d like for the eyes and the nose is just huge because i couldn’t get the fine control i needed using a blunt yarn needle. it came out all mishapen so i added extra stitches at the top to even it out, so it’s massive, but kinda cute.
i don’t think i stuffed the head enough, but i was worried he would topple over. i was also worried i hadn’t added enough pellets to his bum to balance, but it turns out he sits up perfectly - adding the limbs and tail help to prop him up in the obligatory silly poses.
it sounds as though i’m really unhappy with him but i’m not, i think he’s great. i think i’ll send him for a trip through the washing machine before i hand him over - i’m a little nervous about how well tied off everything is.
posted: March 3rd, 2006 under crochet.
comments: 3
comments
pingback from stitch » Blog Archive » blanket
time: 23/4/2006, 6:47 pm
[…] to recap, after much deliberation i settled on a 50% cotton 50% acrylic dk weight yarn (brett’s kool kotton) with a 4mm hook. it took 15 50g balls, with enough spare to make at least one more sleepy cat (for whom i purloined some of this yarn). the pattern is “textured bluebells”, #6 in the book 200 crochet blocks. it’s just a row of sc, ch 2, skip 2 (us terminology, still can’t think crochet in british english) followed by a row of 3 dc into the sc of the previous row. […]
comment from crochetmama
time: 23/4/2006, 10:46 pm
Hi superfurry. I’m crochetmama from Cville. I love your cat and blanket. You mentioned in your notes on the cat that your pellets came in which you used to stuff the cat with. What kind of pellets are those? May I ask why you decided on using these pellets instead of using foam or polyester fiberfil (which is used alot for stuffing projects here in the US). I love your work! Your paper flowers are very cool!
comment from mama
time: 25/4/2006, 10:53 am
hi crochetmama, i mailed you this but it’s probably worth putting here for reference too.
the pellets i used are called poly pellets over here (i got mine on ebay) and are sold for weighting reborn baby dolls. you only use them in the hands and feet and the bottom third of the body, then the rest of the body and the head are stuffed with regular soft stuffing. the arms and legs aren’t stuffed at all, so you can do all the silly poses 
the extra weight in the bottom of the body helps him to sit upright and balance that big head. i’ve noticed recently that most kids toys that you buy have pellets in the bum like this.
if you do use the pellets it helps to add them to the hands and feet before you move on to crocheting the arms. then you can use your tail from the starting round to stitch back and forth across the opening, stopping the pellets escaping up the arms and fastening off the tail in one fell swoop
Write a comment