Cat Toys!!

[hamiltontankgirl]

I've only been crocheting since just before christmas (I'm an old school knitter) and have been going crazy making amigurumi from the Creepy Cute Crochet book. But that means I've been following a pattern pretty religiously and I wanted to do something wholey my own....

Angelus (my evil kitty >'.'<) was given a bag of 6 plastic cage-like cat toys with little bells inside for christmas from a friend and I know how noisy those things can be across hardwood floors. So I thought I'd cover them with some left over pieces of yarn to silence the plastic/bell sound the toy makes...

After making a few, I thought I'd get creative and make an apple. I think they turned out pretty good! And I freehanded all of them!! Hooray for breaking out of the pattern mold! 





I welcome all comments/critiques..

EDIT - as requested, below is the pattern:

I used a G (4.0) hook and started with a magic circle that contained 5 sc, you can get info on how to do a magic circle here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLuSVyKvoUg

2nd row: Sl st to close the previous round. [2 sc in each sc] Repeat. {10 sc}
3rd row: [1 sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc] Repeat.{15 sc - I think  Undecided it's not that important that it's exact}
4th row etc: Keep increasing in this manner until you think it's wide enough to fit around your ball of choice.
Once it's wide enough, keep doing sc all around until you can fit the ball inside and you have enough rows to reach where the ball starts to curve away from the fat part of the ball. Now you need to do decreasing stitches.
Next row: [sc, dec] Repeat.
Remaining Rows: Keep decreasing in this manner for a row or two more, then you want to dec every time to get it smaller . The last few rows right at the top I do sl sts so it isn't too bulky.
Finish by fastening off nicely and stuffing the loose yarn end into the ball.

Note: One mistake I made on the first few balls was to decrease too quickly. My thoughts were if I decreased earlier then the yarn will be nice and tight around the ball. Mistake is, the ball starts to show through and doesn't look nice. After making a couple you'll figure out what works best.

Terms
sl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochet
dec - decrease

*This is my first time writing instructions for something.  If you have any questions or I've explained anything wrong, please let me know and I'll try to help  Grin*

[nykole6412]

they look great!!!!   im gonna have to try that

[le_coiffeur04]

Your Awesome! Those bells are kinda loud espically at 3 in the morning when our cat gets crazy. I'm gonna try it.  Love em!

[Ffrogg526]

Those look wonderful.  I'm definetly going to have to try making some.  Good job!!

[Joujoudoll]

That's awesome... Those look pretty good for making hacky sacks too...

Do you think you could explain to me how you made it? I've been crocheting for 3 years, but I am not creative enough to create something on my own...

[hamiltontankgirl]

Sure JouJouDoll. 


I used a G (4.0) hook and started with a magic circle that contained 5 sc, you can get info on how to do a magic circle here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLuSVyKvoUg

2nd row: Sl st to close the previous round. [2 sc in each sc] Repeat. {10 sc}
3rd row: [1 sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc] Repeat.{15 sc - I think  it's not that important that it's exact}
4th row etc: Keep increasing in this manner until you think it's wide enough to fit around your ball of choice.
Once it's wide enough, keep doing sc all around until you can fit the ball inside and you have enough rows to reach where the ball starts to curve away from the fat part of the ball. Now you need to do decreasing stitches.
Next row: [sc, dec] Repeat.
Remaining Rows: Keep decreasing in this manner for a row or two more, then you want to dec every time to get it smaller . The last few rows right at the top I do sl sts so it isn't too bulky.
Finish by fastening off nicely and stuffing the loose yarn end into the ball.

Note: One mistake I made on the first few balls was to decrease too quickly. My thoughts were if I decreased earlier then the yarn will be nice and tight around the ball. Mistake is, the ball starts to show through and doesn't look nice. After making a couple you'll figure out what works best.

Terms
sl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochet
dec - decrease

*This is my first time writing instructions for something.  If you have any questions or I've explained anything wrong, please let me know and I'll try to help  *