A few weeks ago, I ordered a quarantine kit from Furls Crochet. I’ve been wanting to try one of their hooks, but wasn’t all in on the cost (and I love my clover armour hooks), so the quarantine kit- which included patterns and a skein of their Whims Merino, and a Streamline Swirl hook was a great deal. I was also curious about the yarn, because it features a “z spin” that is more ideal for crochet than regular s spun yarn.

The kit took awhile to get here. I tracked it as it sat in California for several days, and then sat in another office in California for another several days. I think Furls got overwhelmed a little with the orders and were behind, and the post office has been struggling as well- best to practice patience all the time at this point in our lives.

Once the kit got here, I already knew I wasn’t going to use the patterns- yet. I wasn’t feeling inspired, although they were cute. I wanted to make something that made me happy, so I made a little sketch and got started.

 

I practiced with the yarn and hook a bit, to get the feel. The yarn does have a very distinct feel to it- and I liked it. It’s almost like working with a little rope, there is some heft that isn’t always apparent with yarn. Another of my favorite (now discontinued- boo) yarns is ASAP by MadTosh, and it had the same feel. I did note that stitch definition was much more apparent with Whims.

 

The stitch definition is put down to the spin (as noted above). I took a picture of the Whims next to a knitting yarn of similar content. You can see the angle is different on the Whims (L)- the spin is clockwise, while the other is counterclockwise. Furls has an info page about their spin here (scroll to lower half of page). 

The price of Whims is a little high- but I think for smaller projects, it’s affordable, and worth a try. I hope they keep expanding the line with more available colors.

So, The Big Hug Monster was a blast to make. I often find that I draw things out, or have an idea, but they become who they want to become as I make them. For the Monster, I started at the top of his head and worked downward. Here is an approximate pattern, which I will formalize soon.

Chain 3, make 5 SCs in first chain, pull tight. Work 2 SCs in each stitch around = 12 sts

Increase each round by 6 sts until your disc has 54 sts, then, work 11 rounds. Keep track of your beginning of round with a stitch marker.

Decrease round- decrease by 6 sts to 48 sts

Work 3 rounds

Decrease round- decrease by 6 sts to 42 sts

Work 3 rounds

Decrease round- decrease by 6 sts to 36 sts

divide legs. Each leg is worked over 16 stitches closest to each side. Four stitches will be closed in the crotch area. You’ll want to make sure your monster is stuffed to your satisfaction prior to closing the last leg.

Work 6 rounds per leg, and then SC2TOG around, and sew shut.

Arms are grafted directly to the body with ten stitches- four for each side, one on top and bottom. SC 5 rounds. Arms are not stuffed.

Increase round- Increase by two stitches at top of hand  in this round – 12 sts

Shaping round- SC2tog at bottom of hand, and Increase by one stitch at top of hand – 12 sts- repeat this round.

SC2tog around and sew shut.

Ears-

Chain 5, SC in each chain, turn, SC across

Increase at each end in next row for 7 sts, turn, SC across

Increase at each end in next row for 9 sts, turn, SC across

work three rows

decrease at each end for 7 sts, turn, SC across

decrease at each end for 5, turn, SC across

decrease at each end for 3, turn, SC across

SC3tog, tie off

Inside of ear is worked similarly, but smaller. Begin with 2 sts,  Increase to 4, then to 6, and decrease back to 2, SC2tog and tie off. Sew on to outer ear.

Horns– Chain 3, SC in first chain 5 times, and SC around for 4 rounds. Stuff lightly and sew onto head.

For this first monster, I embroidered the eyes, on, but felt discs would work great. The smile, heart and claws are all embroidered. A rainbow would be great as decoration on his chest, or a sunshine- anything that makes you happy.

Again, I’ll formalize this pattern soon, but wanted to share as soon as possible, because we could all use a little more love.