In English

My blog is in Finnish but here I give briefings in English.

Race cars for toys and amigurumis

I started to crochet again after having few years break. We are going to Monaco GP in May 2016 and this year's season has begun. Therefore a suitable target was amigurumi of 2016 F1 car. Prototype is the pale blue on the right. I used acrylic yarn that I have bought years ago for a purpose I do not remember. I made some improvements for the other cars after prototype was ready.

The first car was (of course) Kimi and Ferrari. When the car was ready, my husband said that the car has 2015 colors, because top of rear wing is mainly red in 2016. The car has medium tires on the right and supersoft tires on the left. Both tires fit with car's colors but odd combination is not suitable for driving. I used Novitan Nalle yarn and  3,0 mm hook.

Next I chose Sauber, becaus I like their colors, it is so original. The driver is Felipe, those who fan Marcus need to change color of helmet. I used Novita Seitsemän veljestä yarn and 3,5 mm hook.

I wanted to have Mercedes with silvery effect. Pure grey wool was not stylish enough. I went to local supermarket and found Novita's Kartano, that is pearl cotton and a bit shining. Turquoise and white are Novita Kotiväki yarn, because there were not those in Kartano. I used 3 mm hook although manufacturer recommends smaller hook. Driver is Nico. Pearl cotton car is chic, but now that they are ready I think that wool cars are more cute and more like amigurumis.

My husband wishes Force India, but it has more complicated coloring. I am still thinking about it. Perhaps before May I should crochet also it.

I have published patterns in Ravelry both in English and in Finnish. From Ferrari ie. one color car is one guide (you can do 2016 Renault easily with these instructions because coachwork is yellow and all wings are black).  Pattern on the side suits both Mercedes and Sauber, so they have one common guide.

Star wars rebel alliance mittens

My daughter is a star wars fun like me. She asked me to knit rebel alliance mittens for her. Here they are.

The sign is on the back of the hand. I hate to do patterns afterwards with a needle. I also wanted to do in-the-round . Therefore I added pattern also to palm. My daughter wanted to have grid only around the sign. The red lines are in the wrist, where the fingers start and over the finger joints.

I used Italian Lana Mondial Superwool yarn (100 % wool). Main criteria was that the colors are right. The main color is beige like the rebels' suits. The yarn is actually baby yarn, extremely soft and does not itch even though you have sensitive hands.

In this picture beige seems to be more light than it really is.

I have been in Ravelry few years but this is the first pattern that I shall publish there. There are only English instructions, not in Finnish. These are very easy to knit, even beginners can do them.