Oenfpp

Meet Oenfpp, the One-Eyed, Non-horned, Flightless Purple People-eater.

My husband hates him. My son likes him. I think he's rather cute.
I might be a little attached to him, since he's the first amigurumi pattern I've improvised. I took Stacey Trock's Craftsy class on designing amigurumi monsters, and this was my first attempt.

And, because it's the new year and I like to share things, I've written out the pattern! So without further ado, here it is!

You will need:

Yarn – worsted weight, MC: approx. 100g/220yards/200m (I used Stitch Nation Washable Ewe in Currant. This yarn has been discontinued, but any worsted weight will do.)

small amount of white yarn for eye, small amount of black yarn for pupils and mouth

Hook – size G/4mm

Polyfil

Notions – stitch marker, scrap yarn for eyes and mouth

Skills needed: Magic circle, single crochet, single crochet 2 together

Abbreviations: sc : single crochet

sc2tog: single crochet 2 together (decrease)

This pattern is worked continuously in-the-round, without joining.

Body:

Round 1: Using MC and magic circle, 6sc and join to work in round. (6)

Round 2: 2sc in each stitch (12)

Round 3: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next stitch] around (18)

Round 4: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 2 stitches] around (24)

Round 5: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 3 stitches] around (30)

Round 6: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 4 stitches] around (36)

Round 7: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 5 stitches] around (42)

Round 8: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 6 stitches] around (48)

Round 9: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 7 stitches] around (54)

Round 10-18: Sc in each stitch (54)

Round 19: [sc2tog, sc in next 7 stitches] around (48)

Round 20: [sc2tog, sc in next 6 stitches] around (42)

Round 21: [sc2tog, sc in next 5 stitches] around (36)

Round 22: [sc2tog, sc in next 4 stitches] around (30)

Round 23: sc in each stitch (30)

Round 24: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 4 stitches] around (36)

Round 25: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 5 stitches] around (42)

Round 26: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 6 stitches] around (48)

Round 27: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 7 stitches] around (54)

Round 28-36: sc in each stitch (54)

Round 37: [sc2tog, sc in next 7 stitches] around (48)

Round 38: [sc2tog, sc in next 6 stitches] around (42)

Round 39: [sc2tog, sc in next 5 stitches] around (36)

Round 40: [sc2tog, sc in next 4 stitches] around (30)

Round 41: sc in each stitch (30)

Round 42: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 4 stitches] around (36)

Round 43: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 5 stitches] around (42)

Round 44: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 6 stitches] around (48)

Round 45: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 7 stitches] around (54)

Round 46-55: sc in each stitch (54)

Round 56: [sc2tog, sc in next 7 stitches] around (48)

Round 57: [sc2tog, sc in next 6 stitches] around (42)

Round 58: [sc2tog, sc in next 5 stitches] around (36)

Round 59: [sc2tog, sc in next 4 stitches] around (30)

Round 60: [sc2tog, sc in next 3 stitches] around (24)

Stuff with polyfil.

Round 61: [sc2tog, sc in next 2 stitches] around (18)

Round 62: [sc2tog, sc in next stitch] around (12)

Round 63: sc2tog around (6)

Break yarn and thread through all 6 stitches, pull tight and fasten off.

Arms:

Round 1: Using MC and magic circle, 6sc and join to work in the round. (6)

Round 2: 2sc in each stitch (12)

Round 3: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next stitch] around (18)

Round 4: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next 2 stitches] around (24)

Round 5-22: sc in each stitch (24)

Break yarn, leaving a long tail. Stuff arms with small amount of polyfil and sew to body.

Eye:

Round 1: Using white yarn and magic circle, 6sc and join to work in the round. (6)

Round 2: 2sc in each stitch (12)

Round 3: [2sc in first stitch, sc in next stitch] around (18)

Break yarn, leaving a long tail. Using black yarn, embroider pupil (or use a safety eye if you prefer)

Sew eye to body.

Mouth: Using scrap yarn, embroider mouth as desired.

And enjoy! Oenfpp makes an awesome bookshelf guardian, couch buddy, or just add to your monster menagerie!

This pattern is also available as a Ravelry download.

It's December What? (weekend wind-up)

It's a bit late to be posting a Weekend Wind-up, but here I am anyway.

Today was the last day to ship to/from a Fleet Post Office and be sure that your package will arrive in time for Christmas.

Momma, I am sorry, I did not get yours out in time.

But I did manage to get all the hand-knit goodies for my 6(!) nieces & nephews in the post today.
I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I don't think any of them read this blog, so here's a little peek anyway:

I hope that 1) these fit and 2) they are liked. I will even be happy with one of the two.
Oh, and those pretty hats in the middle? Both of those came from Pacific Knits, which means that this particular book can be marked as "Complete" in my little project.
(What project? The one I decided to take on a few months ago, described in this post. I'm rather terrible about updating, though - really need to work on that!)

Of course...I might have totally added a few more patterns since then. The count is up to 1091. More to come on that.

I hope you are having a lovely holiday season!

Beekeeper's Obsession

So, I started knitting these:

And they are every bit as addicting as knitters on Ravelry lead you to believe.

In case you aren't familiar with hexipuffs, I invite you to check them out.

I decided to use the handy-dandy calculator to figure out how many hexipuffs I would need to make a twin-sized quilt. I figured, if I continually knit these for the next 17 years (which shouldn't be too hard), I should have enough to make a quilt for Clinton to take with him to college.
A 40"x80" quilt (which would just cover the top of an extra-long twin bed, which is standard-issue dorm furniture) will take 547 puffs.
There are five already made. In order to finish by my son's 18th birthday, I will need to knit approximately 32 each year. That's more or less 3 each month.
I think I can handle that.

Oh, but wait...we plan on having another baby (or two). And of course I'll need to make puffy quilts for them, as well. That's another 1094 hexipuffs. If I want to have them all completed at the same time, (and just keep the ones for my not-yet-conceived babies tucked away safe and sound until they graduate from high school,) I'll need to knit approximately 96 per year, or 8 per month. That's two per week.
I might still be able to do this, since I always have knitting with me at work for my breaks.

Hey, did I mention that I've had this pattern sitting in my library for a while? I can mark this one as completed :)