Penguin Pal and Small Crocheted Hat Pattern

A friend asked me to do him a penguin for a Christmas gift. I had trouble settling on a pattern that I liked but I finally decided on The Ageing Young Rebel's Amigurumi Penguin pattern. 

I am pretty happy with how he turned out!! His eyes are a little buggy for my taste but I think he's still pretty cute. The pattern calls for a knitted hat, but I'm not much of a knitter so I crocheted it instead. He's all ready for winter!!

Here's the pattern for the crocheted hat/scarf.

Hat:

Make a Magic Loop, chain 1 and SC 6 in the magic loop

R1: 2 sc in each stitch around (12)

R2: *1 sc, 2 sc in next sc* repeat around (18)

R3: *2 sc, 2 sc in next sc* repeat around (24)

R4: *3 sc, 2 sc in next sc* repeat around (30)

R5: *4 sc, 2 sc in next sc* repeat around (36)

R6-9: sc around (36)

R10: *5 sc, 2 sc in next sc* repeat around (42)

R11-15: sc around (42)

R16: *5 sc, sc2tog* repeat around

R17: sc around in the front loops only

Finish off, leaving a long tail to tack to the head of the penguin (or whatever it is you're crocheting)

For the pom pom, I used a Clover pom pom maker (which I LOVE, by the way!)

Scarf:

Chain 5

R1: Starting in second chain from hook, sc 4, ch 1 and turn

Repeat R1 until the scarf is at the desired length

Finish off leaving long tail to tack to body.

Toopy & Binoo

So I LOVE this Toopy and Binoo pattern from The Whole Knit and Caboodle on Craftsy.

Best Buddies Duo Pack by Sarah Horrocks

The instructions are SO BEAUTIFULLY CLEAR and totally worth the $10 Canadian I spent on it. I've always struggled with *joining* colours neatly and this pattern even explains that, and I've since mastered it! There were some techniques in this pattern that I had never encountered before (the joining of the individual toes and fingers and attaching the arms to the sleeves) but everything was laid out so clearly that it didn't even matter that these things were new to me.

Basically everything you need to know about making these guys can be found in the pattern. It's one of the first patterns I've encountered online that I didn't need to change in some way or another!

Here are the pictures of the finished products I made from this pattern. I've been asked by a few people with kids to make these (apparently Toopy and Binoo are kind of a big deal!) and so far I've had some satisfied customers. I just love the way these work up.

Music, Crafts, Books and Cults

I always start writing projects but I never finish them. I love to write and I think I have a lot of things to say about a lot of *topics* but all I can never manage to actually *post* are Facebook statuses and Tweets. I spend a lot of time worrying that what I'm writing isn't good enough when it doesn't really matter since probably there are a lot of people out there that are worse writers than me. So I'm going to share some things about ME and what this blog may or may not be about.

FIRSTLY, I am Hayley and I'm 22 years old. 

I have a BMus from MUN (I was a piano major) and am currently in the first semester of a 1 1/2 year Music Education program (also at MUN). I guess that makes me a musician, a student, and a teacher, by trade. I've been at the musician and student thing for a pretty long time, so hopefully I can offer some valuable info on those topics. 

I am also a major crafter. I am WAY INTO DIY, and I spend all my free time cross stitching or crocheting or doing some other crafty things. I am totally obsessed with all things crafty. A friend once called Michael's (the craft store) my "place of worship." I am obsessed. I'll probably talk about that a lot. You know, since I'm obsessed.

I LOVE to read and I watch A LOT of Netflix (mostly while I'm crafting). I read a lot as a kid and I make an effort to read during the school year but sometimes it's tough. I try to always have a book going, even if it takes me a little while to get through it. I binge watch a lot of TV shows while I'm crafting and I love a good Netflix documentary about cults. Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you about how much I love cults. It's weird. It doesn't make any sense. Cults are kind of creepy. Anyway, I love em.

So that's me I guess. We'll see what happens. I need to let my brain live outside my body for a while so I'm hoping this might be a good way.