WIP: Crochet Cuddly Fox

I have been working on the Friendly Fox pattern by Michelle Wilcox from Crochet World Magazine October 2019. I have completed the body, ears and tail so far but need to find some black yarn in my stash for the arms & legs.

via Ravelry

I am using Lion Brand Heartland for the body, it has a nice dark orange colour to it. Vanna’s Choice is the recommendation in the pattern but Vanna’s Choice has been removed from my local Michaels stores, which is a disappointment. They had some great colours.

Wee crochet fox completed

I finished the little wee crochet fox from the Freddie Fox pattern by Liz Ward. His body looks a bit big for his head but overall he turned out really well.

He is made from Patons Decor in Rustic with some white and off-white odds from my stash.

WIP : Crochet Fox

via Deramores.com

I have started working on a little crochet fox by Liz Ward from Simply Crochet Amigurumi Collection 3 .

I have the head and body and ears of the box complete and still need to do the tail and sew the face on. He’s really cute and feels like a project “palate cleanser”. Sometimes if I have been working on a single project for a long time or have been having a number of projects that don’t work out, I like to work on something quick and satisfying to kind of get me excited about knitting and crocheting again. Usually I will crochet a dishcloth because it is super easy, takes a couple of hours and is really hard to mess up! But this time I decided to make a little fox. I am feeling refreshed and looking forward to sewing and finishing Mr. Foxington and continuing with Tweedy Shawl.

When things go wrong – Cinnamon Cowl

So this cowl that I have spent so much time on has turned out to be a total flop. It is too big, it doesn’t sit well on the shoulders and when I try to double it up, it is a chunky, uncomfortable mess. Overall, I hate it! So I am going to take it apart and use the yarn for something else. But not now. It is going in the pile of things to be fixed. I don’t venture into that pile too often but I will eventually.

I am quite disappointed because there were some great photos of other people’s cowls on Ravelry and I had the right yarn for the project. But this happens sometimes and it is time to move on.

In this vein, I have started working on a project I know I will enjoy – a toy. I have started working on Mr Foxington by Amanda Berry from Simply Knitting Issue 180.

Image via Ravelry

I have had two skeins of Patons Decor in Rustic for a long time which is a lovely colour for a fox. So far I have the head, body, arms and ears completed and am now working on the legs.

Animal trends

There are a few places that I like to shop where I discover new trends, especially related to what the new “cool” animal is.

Modcloth is one. They have cute dresses and great jewellery. If an animal is trendy and they’ve made a necklace or earrings for it, Modcloth will have it. There is also a shop in New Westminster BC called Lofty Living that I always like to visit. It is a home decor shop and they sell some furniture as well. Owls, whales, birds, – they’ve got them on cushions, tea pots, whatever.

The other place is the craft store where I work. We’ve had stuff relating to the popularity of owls for almost two years now. The new animal that I am seeing become more trendy is the fox. Foxes started popping up in the Harvest and Thanksgiving decor and crafts at the store in the fall. I also saw a pattern for a fox bag on a Crafty magazine cover (which I bought obviously. I want a fox bag!) and now they are popping up everywhere.

So now it is time to talk about the octopus. The octopus has been popular for a while. It fits in with the sea and sailor theme that is really big right now in decor and clothes – i.e the anchor patterns everywhere. I love the octopus theme. I have a  ridiculous number of octopi pendants, an octopus toy, a stuffed octopus and when I found these ceramic octopi at Lofty Living I had to have them. At first I wasn’t planning to do anything to them, but I found some metallic paint on sale and decided it might be cool to paint them.

I painted both the metallic colour and added the antiquing patina on one. I selected some complimentary paper for a background and attached them to a canvas. Now they are a very smart wall art.

The octopi being painted. Here you can see the metallic colour and the antiquing patina.