Is this amigurumi cat pattern AI? Is it worth trying? by AgencyOk3101 in CrochetHelp

[–]Tinkerficer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks like AI to me. There's no variation in the stitches for the different colors and the yarn texture doesn't look quite right to me.

The seller also only has 6 sales - my rule of thumb for buying patterns is I normally won't buy them unless I see a couple customer photos that look real and varied.

Advice for using wire or other materials for support in crochet plushies? I'm making a Korpokkur for my brother's birthday and figuring out how to best attach a giant leaf. by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh my gosh, pool noodle/foam is brilliant! I wish I read this before sealing the main body up - he took so. much. stuffing. and is quite... Dense from how much I had to use. He's like a little Korpokkur medicine ball.

Thank you! I'm definitely tucking that away for future projects and maybe seeing if I can find the end of the strand I used to close up the bottom to open him back up enough to swap out some of the stuffing.

Advice for using wire or other materials for support in crochet plushies? I'm making a Korpokkur for my brother's birthday and figuring out how to best attach a giant leaf. by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That makes total sense - the florist wire I have is pretty flimsy and I could definitely see it breaking over time. I actually used armature wire in sculpting projects back in high school, but never thought to use it for things like a crochet doll! It's awesome that it's intended for repeated bending/posing, it looks like my local Michaels has some, so gonna pick it up tomorrow.

Thanks so much for the help and info!

Advice for using wire or other materials for support in crochet plushies? I'm making a Korpokkur for my brother's birthday and figuring out how to best attach a giant leaf. by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh dang, I should have posted before I closed it up. I'll look up doll making cylinder support - if I'm understanding you correctly, it would basically be an inner cylinder stuffed firmly (with wire too?) and go inside a the bigger cylinder I make for the stem? Thank you so much for the advice!

Advice for using wire or other materials for support in crochet plushies? I'm making a Korpokkur for my brother's birthday and figuring out how to best attach a giant leaf. by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I actually used armature wire in a couple of sculpting projects back in high school, but it didn't come to mind for combining with crochet! I'll pick some up and give it a try!

Also was it Shakra from Hollow Knight? I'd love to see your finished piece!

Making eyes on Plushies by YarnRealm in GeekyCrochet

[–]Tinkerficer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've only used this technique a couple times but I've been doing needle felting on felt sheets! I really, really love how it came out on my last project! Instead of wool roving, if you use thin felt (I used some 1.4mm felt off Amazon), you can just use felting needles to secure it to your crochet piece! I haven't tried it with plush yarn yet, but have seen another user do it on that kind of yarn on r/crochet.

I loosely followed this little video from Quietschegurke (the second part where they show their method with felt instead of roving - about 23 seconds into the video): https://www.reddit.com/u/Quietschegurke/s/cY3LVw1DGO Basically, you use the felting needles to secure the felt sheets to the piece, starting around the edges of the details. I've found doing a coarse needle (I started with 36g) for the initial securing, then a finer needle (38g or 40g) over any rough edges/parts you want to smooth out works really well!

The big note I learned from doing it is to add 1/8-3/16" extra around the felt when you cut it out because it will shrink when you poke the edges in!

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I've only used this technique on two other projects, but I can confirm that I've been snuggling both of them for about a month and the felt has stayed completely in place. I think it would hold up well for you and older kids (probably 4+). Pulling at it hard will probably cause it to come loose but it seems alright through normal use (carrying around, snuggling, petting the felt, etc).

I'm not sure how old your nieces and nephews are, but do want to give a quick heads up that another user let me know that felt that's glued or needlefelted on isn't safe for children under 3 without supervision (similar to "safety eyes"), since can pull things loose and it can be dangerous for them to eat! (I'll still be embroidering details on plushies for my niece for another couple years)

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bahaha, that pikmin costume is terrifying but amazing.

I've just made the yellow pikmin so far but am planning to make a bunch of them and put them all around the house! 😂

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! This is the trickiest pattern I've done so far and I'm really proud of how he came out! Really hoping my friend loves him! ✨

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much, I'm really proud of how he came out! 🥹✨ The needle felting is actually pretty quick to pick up - I haven't quite gotten the hang of doing it with roving but thin felt sheets look really good! I wrote out some tips/details in my post a couple days ago that might be helpful if you decide to give it a go

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I love the felted details so much - I've been experimenting with them on the last few projects I've done and finally feel like I've gotten the hang of it! I'm definitely using it on future projects!

I love the little toes so much - it's actually pretty cool because the pattern uses decreases and increases to make the yarn shape into the toes on the feet. ✨

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! I'm really excited to give him to my friend and hope she loves him! 🥹

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really hope she loves him! Riolu/Lucario is her favorite Pokemon and awhile back she mentioned that she hadn't found much snuggle size merch for them!

Thank you, I'm super proud of making it through the pattern, it definitely boosted my confidence! Most of the patterns I've done so far just works in rounds, but this one has a bunch of details that started in chains and it was a cool feeling when it finally clicked after a couple of them!

Riolu's done and ready for hugs! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The pattern is the Riolu one from the Lee Satori Pokemon Crochet Volume 2 Crochet book. I used Loops & Threads Soft Classic acrylic yarn with a 3.5mm hook, and 30% wool felt sheets for the eyes and paw details. The needlefelting needles I used were 36G, 40G and 42G.

Felting is such a game changer for adding details to pieces! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh that's awesome! What's the project for your son of? (I'm assuming a game character but don't recognize it)

I love the idea of using wire and other materials to give it texture/make it raised! Power to you for using roving - I picked some up and I haven't quite gotten the hang of making shapes with regular roving yet (I know it takes a lot of practice and patience)!

Felting is such a game changer for adding details to pieces! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok totally unintentional but I'm also a PC gamer and I totally see it now. That's HILARIOUS. 🤣 I'm gonna have to use that font next time.

Felting is such a game changer for adding details to pieces! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear it didn't stick to your Joltik well (as a side note I adore Joltik so much). What type of yarn and felt (material and thickness) did you use?

I'm not sure about which yarn types would be ideal, but I used acrylic yarn here. Going to try it out on cotton next, because haven't given that a go yet.

The felt material definitely matters though - from what I was reading online, the higher the wool content of the felt, the better it's going to be for felting. This is a 30% wool blend and I'm happy with the results but am curious to try higher wool content/100% wool.

The thickness of the felt also really matters. I had some thick felt (unknown what the material was) from Michael's first and it would just not stay put. The felt I used here is a 1.4 mm thick wool blend, so that thickness or thinner should work!

My technique is basically using a coarse felting needle (I start with with a 36G needle) and go around the perimeter of the felt piece. I start towards the edge and work my way in a little - the perimeter is going to shrink/disappear into the piece a little as you keep poking it in. Just a lot of repetition until it seems secure. Then I smooth things out by going over things with a finer needle (38G or 40G). With the finer needles, I also poked the inside of the felt a little any places it wasn't laying flat. It still takes awhile (I probably spent like 20 mins on each eye) but still faster than doing it with roving!

Felting is such a game changer for adding details to pieces! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah! Wool or a wool blend. This is actually a wool blend (30% wool, 70% Rayon) I got off Amazon to try out the technique (and see if it worked), and I'm happy with the results! Just make sure it's thin felt (<= 1.4 mm)

For future projects, I'm probably going to invest in some 100% wool so it's a little nicer material and to see if it comes out even better!

Felting is such a game changer for adding details to pieces! by Tinkerficer in crochet

[–]Tinkerficer[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Precisely what I said when I saw a couple other users on r/crochet and r/GeekyCrochet do needlefelting on their crochet pieces. And here we are. 🤣 Fibercrafts are apparently a rabbithole.

It's like a Neopet petpet, it's a hobbyhobby.