xparrot | crafty like a fox!

(A fox with opposable thumbs.)

So the thing is, I've done crochet on and off for years - my grandmother taught me with a huge size K hook when I was nine or ten - I've made a few afghans, following patterns. But for some reason the idea of amigurumi never occurred to me (else I'd have taken it up young and never stopped, given my love for stuffed toys.) A year or two ago, however, I came across this free pattern, which was too good to pass up, especially since I love the popcorn stitch. Didn't get hold of hooks in Japan, but back stateside I dug up my old bag of yarn and got to work.

(I finished these a few months back, but one was a Christmas present for

gnine, so I couldn't post pics until post-holidays.)

I ended up making two Daleks, the first (black) as a practice run (it was my first amigurumi) and then the second (gold) when I had a better idea what I was doing. They're both based on the original pattern, modified for accuracy (hey, I'm a fangirl, Daleks are supposed to have 56 divots!), especially the second time around. I found perfect buttons for the eye-stalk lenses, though nothing good for the little ear-stalk lights on the dome (need to look harder!)

EXTERMINATE!

GIVE US A CUDDLE?

Flush with Dalek success, I decided I wanted to do a dragon next. Failing at finding any free patterns online that were quite what I wanted, I started with this pattern for the head, then fooled around with the yarn, crocheting and pulling out and crocheting again - crocheting without a pattern, or bothering to count stitches, makes for some nice organic shapes, rather suited to dragons, I found.