Mr Thunderstomp

Meet Mr Thunderstomp. I bought the book Edward's Menagerie recently because I saw a giant version of the rhino pattern and fell in love with it. I have been crocheting for a few years now but have never felt like trying amigurumi before. But the rhino stole my heart as soon as I saw him.

I had some problems figuring out the pattern but thanks to a search online I found that it used a shorthand version of crochet instructions. Once I figured that out the crochet made up really quickly. Each leg took about 40 minutes to crochet. I used Cygnet Seriously Chunky yarn and it was lovely to use. It's acrylic but much cheaper than the yarn recommended in the book - and for such a large animal it would have cost a small fortune to make him in anything other than acrylic.

He is almost 16 inches (40cm) high when seated. I used seven 100g balls for the body and part of a 100g ball for the horn. So it's quite a lot of yarn. But I do love him. I already have plans to crochet another animal - a rottweiler. Although the book does not have any dog patterns they can be easily adapted for anyone with a bit of crochet experience. No doubt I will post the finished article once I get round to making it.

New beads for warmer days

Some new beads this week - with a sea theme. One set has sailing ships. The other has starfish. As always, they can be found in my Etsy shop.

And on that warm weather theme - the swallows arrived yesterday so summer must be on its way.

Kanzashi flowers

Gina_B Silkworks has some new products out this month. Kanzashi flowers are little flowers made from fabric that originated in Japan. You can find out a bit more about it here or Google to find some fabulous pictures. They are super easy to make with a few folds - rather like origami for fabric. My desk has been covered in flowers this week as I wait for them to dry. Very springlike. Needless to say I made a few samples using the new kits:

A little sewing kit/needle case made from a pair of old jeans and a little treasure chest...

 and some of you might remember this bag from a few posts back.

There was also a little pendant that I forgot to photograph. So in absence of that photo, these are samples for Gina's previous button show that I forgot to share too: a thread catcher for sewers, a bookmark, a little pod bag and a pin cushion.

Fabric and patchwork!

My new Janet Clare Wordsmith fabric arrived today. I love the fresh greens in her collections. Now to decide what to do with them.

Some might end up as part of the Splendid Sampler quilt I am making. This is my first attempt at a proper quilt. In fact it's my first proper attempt at proper patchwork. It is a steep learning curve but I am getting there. By the end of the year I should have a nice quilt to snuggle under too. The photo below is the blocks I have stitched so far.

This is one of this week's block. Designed by Janet Clare and made by me using Janet Clare fabrics by Moda.