Crochet cat, button beany and some tiny little creatures.

I have made this for a friend from a lovely pattern by Nekoyama ( all copyrights reserved). The writer of the pattern asks that a link is made to the site above but it is in Japanese and will need a translator. It is a really clever design with weights in the hands, feet and bottom, so that it sits and you can position it how you like. I was really enthusiastic and got started immediately and then sent for the pellets that form the heavy stuffing. When the pellets arrived I found that they were so tiny that they slipped through the natural gaps in my crocheting. Never mind I soon found a muslin bag to contain the pellets and all my troubles should have been over but the arms and legs are so thin that I couldn't get a bag full of pellets down them and into the hands/feet and being me I couldn't bear to undo the arms and legs . I solved the problem by using some beads which work very well but the cat doesn't so much purr as rattle. Never mind he is lovely and I highly recommend the translated pattern.

For the rest of the day I unconsciously set myself a challenge: First Graham had made me some lovely thick orange yarn by plying some very fine stuff. I had intended to make another fish hat since we had sold the last one but then I decided it looked like an orange and I contemplated putting a stalk and leaves on the top but eventually it became 'the three button beany below'.

This fits my rather large head so you can probably tell it is really thick yarn but these are from very fine yarn:

I really love the tiny little hedgehog with the bright, sparkly, black eyes but the owl has eyes that make it look like a cartoon creature that has just been hit on the head.

You see the challenge, from really thick yarn to really thin yarn and from using a 10mm hook to using a 2mm hook in the space of an hour. But best of all it shows a little of the versatility of crochet and a little of why we love it.

Lynn