Amigurumi Yarn Fiber & Texture

I wanted to try out some different things this week--different fibers and textures.  I normally use worsted weight acrylic yarn, but I recently wanted to try cotton.  Until this octopus pattern, all of my amigurumi have used the method of single crochet using the back loop.

Turtle, turtle, turtle 

(my turtle walking around on some vinyl grass)


Supplies:
--turtle pattern
--2 colors of yarn
--crochet hook
--needle
--stitch marker
--scissors
I made this turtle using a free pattern from Lion Brand yarns.

Instead of using acrylic yarn like I normally do, I used cotton.  It feels a little bit softer than some of the acrylics, but not as soft as some other yarns (like the yarn I used for my Yeti).  It was not spun together quite like acrylic yarn, and it was easier to miss a strand, but I like the look and texture of the cotton.  It seems like a good texture/fiber for younger kids or depending on the project.  Note that cotton yarn comes in more expensive, smaller quantities, so the cost is another consideration in deciding what yarn to use.

I made the parts of the turtle a few weeks ago,

but I finally sewed it together this weekend.

This project was pretty easy and fairly quick.  It is a smaller project using continuous rounds.  I did it all using single crochet.

I thought about adding eyes, but they just didn't look good.  First, I tried some 9 mm plastic eyes, but they looked too big.  The plastic eyes may have looked better if they were smaller.  Next, I tried adding some black yarn for eyes.  I have done it before, and it looked good last time.  However, this time it just looked bad.  I didn't have any black cotton yarn, and instead tried black acrylic, so maybe black cotton would have looked better.  Anyway, I ended up choosing not to add any eyes.



Small Octopus

(my little purple octopus swimming around in some vinyl water)

Supplies:
--octopus pattern
--yarn
--crochet hook
--needle
--stitch marker
--scissors
--plastic eyes

This octopus is another free pattern from Lion Brand yarns.  I used acrylic yarn for this project, but the difference here is that I did single crochet both loops.  It looks really different.

I like the texture for this project, but I like the look of the back loop only better.  However, now that I have the 2 for comparison, I think I may switch back and forth depending on the project.  I will say that when it comes to attaching limbs and counting, back loop only is much easier.  On the other hand, the limbs attached to booth loop crochet have a more invisible attachment.

This project was easy, but I did get a little bit bored by the end when I was making the 8 legs.  It is made using single crochet continuous rounds.  For this one, I used a size G hook and 9 mm plastic eyes.  I do like how it turned out.


Update:  This post was featured on Taelia88's blog.