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Monday, January 9, 2012

"Shrinking" AllAboutAmi's Teddy Ornaments

If you like to knit or crochet amigurumi, you know there's a severe lacking in yarn color choices. It's so hard to match that exact shade of Pac-Man ghost #3, but throughout the years, I've settled on Red Heart Super Saver as my cheap and readily available default. Which means I have tons and tons of random leftover Red Heart yarn scraps in my collection.

So whenever I come upon an amigurumi pattern that calls for non-worsted weight yarn, I can either a) buy new yarn (no way, I need to use up my stash!), b) make the pattern as is, gauge be darned, or c) alter the pattern to keep the original size. Normally I choose option B, but for AllAboutAmi's Teddy Ornament pattern, I went with option C because well, I didn't want the bears to become super-giant-sized compared to the rest of my Christmas ornaments. Here are my edits in case you're interested!

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver (worsted)
Safety Eyes: 6 mm for the eyes and 9 mm for the triangular nose
Hook Size: 3.25 mm (D)

HEAD/BODY
  • Complete Rows 1-6 of the instructions (36 sts).
  • Skip to Row 9. Sc around for 8 rows. (If you’re creating the panda, switch colors after completing 2 rows of sc around.) When finished, skip to Row 23 of the instructions and finish the rest as written.
SCARF (I shortened the # of chains and used sc only, no hdc.)
  • Chain 51 instead of 62. Try this length out by wrapping it loosely around the bear.
  • Row 1: Starting in second chain from hook, sc 50 (not hdc). Fasten off.
  • Row 2: Join new color to the first stitch. Ch 1 and sc 50. Fasten off.
  • Row 3: Join original color (from Row 1) to the first stitch. Ch 1 and sc 50. Fasten off.
  • Follow rest of scarf instructions on attaching fringe, etc.
TEDDY & PANDA EARS (I never made the koala ears, but it's probably similar.)
  • Row 1: 5 sc in magic ring.
  • Row 2: *Sc 1, 2 sc in next sc* 2 times and sc 1 in the last stitch for a total of 7 sts.
  • Row 3: Sc around (7 sts).
  • Do not make Row 4. Follow rest of ear instructions.
TIPS & TRICKS
To best hide all the loose ends, I made the teddy ornaments in this order:
  • Make the head/body up to Row 23 or 24 and pause (do not fasten off).
  • For the panda and koala, cut the eye patches out of felt.
  • Place the eyes (and felt pieces) on the ornament without snapping the washer on. Embroider the noise and mouth. If satisfied with the positioning of the face, snap the eye washers on.
  • Make the scarf and glue/sew it to the bear just below the mouth.
  • Make the ears and sew them on the head.
  • Attach the loop to the top of the bear's head.
  • Finally, begin stuffing the head and complete the rest of the head/body instructions. You're done!
Since only the outside of the amigurumi is visible, I just knotted the loose ends inside the bear and didn't worry about tucking them in neatly. Some people don't like the "feel" of the knots, but it's packed full of stuffing so I can't really tell.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

These are super cute!!!

A Gamer's Wife said...

Thanks, Jessi. #^_^# Kitty seems to agree too; she tries to nom on their ears if I'm not paying attention.

Stephanie said...

Great post, Anne! So happy that you liked my pattern, and I love how you very clearly laid out your detailed edits! Will link this post to my pattern :)

Lilly said...

omg I love the panda!!! haha that's cute. I always don't like using super saver because they do come out big... my college cat sweater turned out humungous too! I just havn't quite grasped how much smaller gauge to use with certain yarn.

A Gamer's Wife said...

@Stephanie, thanks so much! Hope it helps out your readers. :)

@Lilly, I totally know what you mean. I'm working on a hat where I ended up deleting almost 1/3 of the rows because of using bigger yarn! I usually try to match the pattern's gauge with different size needles, but it's definitely not a science. ^_^;;

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for adding instructions for worsted weight yarn. I really wanted to make the panda, but did not want to buy light weight yarn. Your instructions are so clear. I really appreciate it. :) Have a great day!

Laura

A Gamer's Wife said...

Glad you found it useful, Laura. Best of luck with the pattern!

Rebecca from ChemKnits said...

Thank you so much for these modifications! I had just started the amigurumi with a size D hook on worsted weight yarn and was concerned about the ornament would end up too big. I knew that I could modify the directions, but I didn't want to chance ending up with an egg shaped teddy.

A Gamer's Wife said...

No problem, Rebecca! Glad I could help and spread the knowledge. :)

Unknown said...

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for posting this!! I really love this pattern, however, I don't have a size 2 hook and most of my yarn is worsted weight as well. This mod is great b/c it allows me to use bigger yarn and still get small ami bears. You are awesome!!

A Gamer's Wife said...

My pleasure, Sarah! Hope they turn out well in time for Christmas. :)

Michelle said...

Hi! Quick question: did you change the size of the safety eyes from 7.5 MM as well? If so, to what?

Thank you :)

A Gamer's Wife said...

@Michelle - Whew, I had to really go digging for that answer. Looks like I used 6 mm for the eyes and 9 mm for the triangular nose. I'll update the post to reflect that!

Michelle said...

You have no idea how much I appreciate that! Thank you very much, Anne :)

A Gamer's Wife said...

@Michelle - You're welcome! Best of luck with the pattern. :)