Whoops - made giant toys by accident

[SinkGirl]

Every year for my twins birthday I make them toys from a specific designer - last year I made them bigger than the first ones so I thought I’d go bigger this year...

Shit. Finished one and it’s massive. They weigh a ton. Have cost a bloody fortune too. Haven’t finished the other one yet...

This is why you always swatch 😂

Is it worth having another baby so I can make this?

www.etsy.com/uk/listing/692876122/lalylala-crochet-kit-flying-saucer-tune?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=lalylala&ref=sr_gallery-1-44&organic_search_click=1&bes=1

I had a look, there’s some gorgeous Lalylala dolls on Etsy for anyone who wants on. They’re mostly made in all cotton which is a shame as I think the variegated yarn in natural fibres makes so much difference to the finish. They vary from £30+, which is a bargain given the work - they are smaller though. I don’t even want to think how much I’ve spent on these two big ones 😬

@SinkGirl Those are amazing! You're so talented and must have huge amounts of patience. Your twins must love them and I bet will cherish them when they become adults.

They are fantastic! I made the kangaroo using acrylic yarn. I need to have another go with a better quality yarn, my one looks nowhere near as good.

I did similar with a trophy head. I used a bigger hook because it was all I could find at the time. The finished article is HUGE! way too big to go on the wall . It cost a bloody fortune in stuffing too.

I have a lupo in progress at the moment, I'm about halfway through the body and it's been set aside for something that requires less concentration - and because my mum keeps putting orders in for various of her friend's grandchildren.

SinkGirl your knit is so consistent #goals

They are absolutely adorable. We're TTC no.2 at the moment so this seems like a perfect opportunity to start this once we have confirmation

They are amazing. I remember you from other threads and don't know how you find the time!

Aww thanks everyone, you’re far too kind - I promise I have no innate crafting skill, I didn’t pick up a pair of knitting needles until just before my 30th, and I think I did my first bit of crochet about 6 years ago. Haven’t had much time since the twins were born though! If i can do it, you can!

I don’t get much time these days and about 30 part finished projects in the loft, including a lovely stranded blanket I’m about 2/3 through. I need to dig that out. I really don’t have time but I do feel better when I make time for it. It’s good for me!

My real passion is paper cutting, I used to make and sell them but my twins and scalpel blades is a big no so that’s on hold! I used to do massive layered pieces that took a hundred of hours in some cases. I miss it!

Lupo (the lamb) is riddled with errors, I screwed up on the staggering of the bobble stitches which means they’re not placed right, but I wasn’t sure I would finish in time so had to plough on. It’s making my teeth itch 😂

I think the biggest change in my knitted and crocheted stuff was when I mainly ditched acrylic - I’d find I would work on something for weeks / months and then it would just look crappy. I use mainly Drops yarns as they’re so affordable for natural fibres.

I can't crochet for toffee but I have just bought a Lalylala pattern because of this thread
They're so beautiful.

Any tips on where to start...?!

I love these! I want to learn to crochet now.

Amazing tapdance - which one did you buy?

Do you have hooks or yarn or anything? I’d love to help!

The good thing about amigurumi (toys like this) is that you really only need to learn four things for most of it:

• Magic loop starts

• Single crochet stitch (confusingly in English patterns this is called double crochet but in American ones and other countries, it’s called single crochet)

www.woolandthegang.com/how-to/crochet/single-crochet

• Increase (all you do for this is make two single crochet stitches into one stitch, unless it tells you to use a different stitch)

• Decrease, usually crocheting two stitches together - there’s various methods for this but this one is easy and the neatest

Although all the Lalylala patterns use 4 ply yarn, I’d recommend starting with either DK yarn and 2.75mm hook or Aran weight yarn and a 3.5mm hook. It can be so hard to see what’s going on when working with tiny thin yarn and a dinky hook!

I’d recommend practicing all the above on some scrap yarn and then you’ll be set.

Also, the Ravelry forums are the single best source of help I found when I was learning. Always someone knowledgeable.

Reading patterns can be confusing at first but I’m sure someone here will help - I will!

Oh I forgot to say - I bought a giant sack of stuffing on amazon, it was a 1kg bag and much better quality than the small bags you get from places like Wool Warehouse.

I used most of the bag for these two, plus there’s 5-600g of yarn in each one (I needed 400g of White for the lamb, those bobble stitches eat yarn!). They’re blooming heavy 😂

Well the boys got their toys today - as expected they are completely uninterested but hopefully one day they’ll love them.

@TapDanceJazzHands have you tried your pattern yet?

That's kids for you! I'm sure they will come to love them very soon, they look amazing.

Wow, they are bigger than I thought *toys, not kids

Yeah, seeing them in context is a bit shocking. They’re whoppers!

Just had to say well done, they're amazing

I've only just popped back on to see the finished products! They're fab OP!

I got one of those Rebecca Danger patterns and I'm making a monster as we speak. I've never used DPNs before so that's completely new and it's taken me about 5 attempts at a leg to get the hang of it

So clever OP. I’m crafty but have never learned to knit or crochet. I’m in awe 😍🙌🏻