Crochet Mania!!! (as promised)

It all started with a mouse...

No longer so clean, as Smokey has been playing with it!

Actually it really all started with a newsletter from Joybilee Farms with a pattern for a crocheted rabbit.  It was soooo cute, but, alas, I did not know (or remember) how to crochet! Well I shared my lament with Chris (owner of Joybilee Farm) and she promptly posted a link to a "learn how to crochet" video.  If you "Facebook" (hmm... a new verb) you can see Joybilee's page HERE.

As it turns out, you can learn almost anything on You Tube... I followed through a 7 or 8 part "crochet a giraffe" series, learned the basic crochet stitches necessary for amigurumi (a fancy word for: crocheted toys), and started my new obsession craft endeavor. Mouse was the first product.  Stuffed with Greta wool and organic catnip from our garden, this mouse is one of Smokey's new favorites!
(on a side note: never, ever, ever plant catnip somewhere that you don't want it to take over. and if you let it flower, you can just forget about ever not having it. Just sayin')

Encouraged by my success, I quickly made mouse 2:(he even got facial features...)

Pretty cute, No?

The mouse pattern, BTW, is available (for free!!) from the Lion Brands Yarn website.  You have to register, but it doesn't cost anything and, so far, they haven't clogged my inbox with email messages.
Of course their pattern calls for using their yarn, but I actually used my very own hand-spun (it is okay to be super impressed). and I left off the bell from the end of the tail (Smokey just eats them anyway).

Now that I had successfully crocheted up some rodents, I was looking for a different little creature.  Enter "The Birds", not the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock release, but a blog with another free pattern: Birds of a Feather

Santa Bird (the hat was my idea!)

This one was crocheted with mill ends- wool singles. A little easier to work with than my handspun.  I learned something here: if you are planning on putting plastic safety eyes on your crochet toys, you need to do that before you stuff and close them.  Yeah, I know, sounds pretty basic, but I am speaking from experience here.  So Santa Bird got button eyes.  Still too cute.

Onward to... Bird #2:

Can you stand it?

 This little one was made with some handspun that I had in my stash. It was not spun by me, so it is a little more balanced and easier to work with.  He got a jaunty comb instead of a hat!

Then, since these last 3 were all going to sunny So Cal to live with my sister, niece and their 2 cats- I had to make mouse 3 (2 cats, 1 mouse, no good).  Alas, no photo of him (that's what happens when you have to do a rush job and get it mailed out!)

Bird Friends

Are you really going to need that hat in California?

Look this thing has his wings on his head!

Away we go!

Hey!!!! Wait for me!

The End.

 So there they are ~ Crochet Critters.  I have another bird done and am working on a sheep!  The rabbit I originally was interested in is a little more complicated, so I need to get some skills mastered first.  Apparently, winter is kinda slow around here LOL!

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year.  Personally, my 2012 is gonna rock!  I am going to 5 day horse camp!!!!!  I'll tell you how we managed it next time!