Sneak Peek!!!

We're not just working on our 'All Things Weird and Wonderful' animal collection, oh no, we have also started designing some mini kits.

So, where do we start when we are thinking of designing a new collection? Well this time we were inspired by yarn! Hannah had previously used Scheepjes Catona cotton yarn for some small amigurumi projects. She found it easy to work with, making crisp stitches, ideal for amigurumi. After a little online research we found that the yarn is available in a large selection of beautiful colours. Then to make it even better all these amazing shades are available in teeny tiny, cute 25g balls. This was the perfect opportunity to have a play.
These are the colours we chose (to add to Hannah's stash!)

Now we had the colours, what to do with them? Time for some ideas....
Whenever we make a kit it's usually something that we love, makes us laugh or is just a little bit different! That's how these little fellas came alive. Mushrooms, that's what we decided upon, but not any old mushrooms, fungi, Fun-Guys!

Well, we knew we wanted to use lots of colour so it couldn't just be a little old button mushroom that we used for inspiration. Time for more research, good ol' Pinterest here we come.



Ok, now we had a few ideas of what nature had created out there, it was time to put our own spin on them. The bright pink one took my (Hannah's) eye straight away. I grabbed a ball of the pink Catona and made a start. I had a good idea of the shape I wanted to created, so I just went for it.
When I'm writing patterns I like to just do it. A pad of paper, a pen and a crochet hook and off I go. Each time I do a round of stitches it gets written down and if a row of stitches gets pulled out then it's scribbled out on the paper.

A few more colours, a few more stitches and a few more scribblings and I had my first little Fun-guy! (Although I think she's more of a Fun-Gal)

She still needed a little mouth sewing on to bring her to life but I was happy with the pattern and what I had created. Naturally the next step was to make another!

Same designing process but different colours and a different style this time.

I went for blue and I wanted to create a taller, skinnier mushroom. I started with the stalk and worked my way up. Here's what I came up with.

Ok, just one more...

Green, short and squat was the aim. Yarn chosen, hook at the ready,

And here he is...

So there we go, one evening of playing about with some lovely bright coloured yarn and we have ended up with these three.

Our plan is to get these patterns tested then work on turning them into kits. Like our larger kits they will include full instructions, all the yarn you need, stuffing, safety eyes and a hand designed stitch marker. 

We would love to know what you guys think about these little dudes and if you have any ideas for any other designs. 

Hook happy,

Hannah and Cara

Viola the Narwhal

When we came up with the idea of All Things Weird and Wonderful we made a list of all the different animals we wanted to try and turn into crochet patterns. Very near the top of that list was a narwhal. We love unicorns and of course narwhals are the unicorns of the ocean. These animals are beautiful and almost mystical with their amazing horns, they definitely meet the criteria of weird and wonderful.

Designing our animals starts off with a little bit of research. We have a bit of a collection of animal books, which are great for reference, but a quick Google search and we had plenty of images to work from.

Now we have a good idea of what we want to create we start to look at yarns. What a minefield that can be! Being new to the world of running a craft business we don't really have the funds to buy loads of yarn. Luckily we both have our own sizable yarn stashes. We both often work with StyleCraft Special DK and because of their huge array of colours and affordability we decided to start there.

We wanted to add our own spin on the narwhal so didn't go for the usual grey, instead we decided upon Duck Egg and for the horn we chose Cream.

Hannah decided she would be the one to write this pattern...

I knew what I was aiming for so I grabbed my trusty 4mm hook and began. When writing patterns I tend to just 'go with it'. As I crochet I write down the stitches, if they are wrong they get crossed out and written again.

I broke the narwhal down into basic shapes. A body, fins, tail and horn. All our patterns use the basic crochet stitches (UK terms) Double crochet, increase by doing 2 double crochets in a stitch and decreasing by double crocheting 2 stitches together.

After all the body parts are created it's time to sew them all together. I always leave plenty of tail, it makes this job a bit easier. 

To make the horn a little bit more special we used a sparkly crochet yarn to embroider on a spiral design.

So the pattern was written and one prototype had been made. The next part of the process is to test the pattern. If it's one of my patterns Cara will test it and visa versa, if it's Cara's pattern then I test it.

If the pattern needs changing (fingers crossed it doesn't) then it can be. Also when testing the pattern it's time to weigh how much yarn and stuffing is used. 

Once we are completely happy the pattern can be typed out and the kits can be made up. We always provide more stuffing and yarn than we use to allow for peoples tension and we would hate it if you didn't have enough to finish your project. 

What else goes into the kits? As well as the yarn and stuffing there are the safety eyes, full pattern with words and pictures, any embroidery threads needed and a hand drawn stitch marker. 

So Viola is all ready to be packaged up and that's what Cara and I will be up to this week, printing packaging and making up the kits ready to be sold.

As ever we would love your feed back on this design and we will let you know when they are available to buy.

Hook happy,

Hannah and Cara

Pablo the Chameleon

As we are Chameleon Crafters the obvious choice for our first Weird and Wonderful animal was a chameleon.
We knew we wanted to use lots of colour to create this little guy so we started looking at variegated yarns straight away. We decided this was the easiest way to get lots of colour without having lots of different coloured yarns and fiddly colour changes. We decided upon Patons Fab DK in the colour way Jeans Print.

Now with the yarn chosen it was time for a little bit of inspiration.

Ok, so we had an idea of what we wanted to create and the yarn we were going to use. The only thing to do now was to start making. Hannah decided she was going to take on the challenge and here's how she did it.

As the yarn is a DK and I have quite a tight tension when crocheting I used a 4mm hook. I used my knowledge of amigurumi and what stitches used to increase and decrease and began to write a pattern! This was the first pattern I had written from scratch so I wasn't a hundred percent sure how to go about it. Eventually I just decided to go for it, writing down every stitch as I made it.

After a few tweaks and changes I had a chameleon body with attached head and tail and I was pretty pleased! 

Onto the next body parts. I needed 4 legs, 2 eyes, a crest for his head and frill for his back, off I went...

Now with all the pieces made it was sewing up time. 

There he was! Pablo the Chameleon. If you have been reading our blog then you will know Cara and I like to add to our little characters by giving them each their own quirky little story.

This is Pablo's...

Pablo recently moved to London 

from Salamanca, Spain, to study

fine art and dreams of becoming

a famous painter. Most days he can be found 

at the University art studio or soaking up inspiration

at the National Gallery. 

Life as a student has it’s financial pitfalls

and so to make ends meet he has taken a part time 

job and teaches Salsa at an exclusive underground club.

Now we had our pattern it was time to make our kits. Each of our kits contain all the yarn you need for the project. We thought the yarn for this project would be best showcased as a skein so that you can see all the colours in the yarn. Cara and I hadn't skeined yarn before so a quick trip to You Tube and we were set. We got pretty good really and had our own rather unique method.

As well as all the yarn, you also get all the stuffing needed, safety eyes, embroidery thread, full instructions with words and pictures, plus an exclusive hand drawn stitch marker. The stitch markers relate back to the creatures little story. In Pablo's case he has a paint palette, as he aspires to become a great artist.

Pablo is already available to buy from us through our social media sites (website coming soon) and also in Hannah's local yarn shop The Woolly Beader in Okehampton.

Keep an eye out for new additions to our All Things Weird and Wonderful collection, 

Hook happy,

Hannah and Cara

Luna the Hare

How did Chameleon Crafters come about? What was their first design? Well, let me tell you all about it.......................
The first ever pattern that I (Cara) designed was a hare, named Luna. I chose a hare because it seemed a fairly easy form that should work well in the amigurumi style. I had made quite a few amigurumi animals already, so I had an idea of what I wanted her to look like and what design to use. A few rough drawings and some scribblings later and I had a very basic drawing of a dismembered hare...it was time to bring her together.

Right 'o, what did I need? I checked back at my drawings and worked out I would need at least 100g of yarn, toy stuffing and some safety eyes. Nice and easy. What yarn did I want her to be constructed from? Who would be buying or receiving her? How did I want her to sit, soft and floppy or rigid and upright? I decided that she
a) needed to made from a soft but durable yarn and
b) should be soft to the touch and have a slouchy appearance.
Time to decide on the yarn (the fun bit!) Hannah had just finished working on a project from Little Box of Crochet using the yarn supplied and recommended it as it was so very soft and had a subtle two tone effect. I did a bit of research online and after feeling the yarn for myself I went ahead and ordered some balls of Scheepjes Stone Washed yarn, in 'Moon Stone'. I also ordered some black safety eyes and a bag of toy stuffing.

Wow, the yarn worked up fast and was so soft, it just seemed to slip easily through your fingers and had a pretty good yardage, which was a bonus. Every evening, after I had put my 2 year old (Sebby) to bed I worked on my design. Crocheting a bit, writing that bit down, crocheting a couple of rounds...frogging them back again and so on. Soon I had a bag of hare body parts ready to be stuffed (not too much though as I still wanted that slouchy look) and sewn together. Stuffed, sewn and now waiting for her face, her character, what a responsibility eh?! With the safety eyes in place I felt all she needed was a simple embroidered nose and voila! Luna was born.

I saw Hannah shortly after and asked her what she thought about the idea of us starting a small online, crochet business, specialising in amigurumi pattern designs. She loved it and agreed to come on board. We came up with our name Chameleon Crafters as I have Bipolar and can be very  'colourful' and susceptible to frequent change hence the Chameleon. Obviously we are both crafters so that's where the Crafters came from!

From there it's just been a very natural progression. We are both very creative and obsessed with yarn so it wasn't long before we wanted to make a start on new pattern designs. All Things Weird and Wonderful is the name of our first range which is made up of colourful, quirky, amigurumi animals. 
Hannah tested my Luna the Hare pattern and once it had passed we packaged her into a CIY (crochet it yourself) kit ready for you lovely lot make your own. 

ps. She is really very well behaved and completely house trained :)

Big love,

Cara and Hannah

Yarn Shop Review: Wool on the Exe

If you love yarn then the likelihood is you love a yarn shop? Well we certainly do! Any chance to visit one and we are there in a flash! So when we heard about a new yarn shop that had recently opened in Exeter, we made plans for a little shopping trip!
I (Hannah) live in Okehampton, Devon, so Exeter is pretty local to me and Cara visits me once a week (at least!) so off we went!

So let me tell you about this amazing place! Wool on the Exe is located right next to the river at 2 Okehampton Street, Exeter, Devon, EX4 1DW.

You can visit Wool on the Exe's website here. Find out who runs the shop, what is stocked, what workshops are coming up and pretty much everything else you'd need to know

Today we want to tell you all about our first experience of this yarny treasure trove.
 Even before entering the shop, we stopped and gazed in awe at the lovely products in the window display. It all looked so inviting and just made us want to rush in. The shop itself is bright and airy. There is lots of natural light, which is always important when looking at yarn, nothing worse than buying what you think might be blue yarn and you get it home and it's green! This can happen in larger, darker shops or shops with lots of electric lighting.
We loved the layout of the whole shop. Products are on different levels, inviting you to look in and around each display, pick up and feel the yarns. Even the fittings looked great, you can tell that a lot of time and care has gone into designing the layout. The shop is brimming with personality, individuality and has a really personal touch.

The shop is run by the two very welcoming and friendly ladies pictured below.

Mary Ann Jennings (left) and Debbie Judd (right)

Both ladies greeted us when entering the shop and were happy to speak to us about our interests and had an excellent knowledge and enthusiasm about their products. We both felt really at ease in the shop. We both get a little anxious around new people or groups of people and sometimes in shops sales people can 'pounce' on you and make you feel pressured to buy, which can really put us off. It was quite the opposite here! We were able to browse the shop in our own time, as well as being able to ask questions and receive plenty of information or help about our purchases.

Love this wallpaper such a fab way to showcase memories!

Both the ladies are really proud that they can support local businesses through their shop. A lot of their yarn comes from British manufacturers including more well known brands, such as West Yorkshire Spinners and also smaller, local producers. Here is a selection of the stunning yarns we saw:

Whistlebare Yeavering Bell DK

Spindle and Skein, Vegan Selection (Flax yarn!!!)

Hoooked 

Eden Cottage Yarns, Bowland DK

Crystal Palace Yarns, Mochi Plus

Eden Cottage Yarns, Whitfell Chunky

Eden Cottage Yarns, Askham 4 ply

Spindle and Skein, Devon Longwool, Bluefaced Leicester, Jacob Humbug, Organic Falkland Merino, Shetland

Spindle and Skein, British Wool Breeds Yarn Box

Wool on the Exe also stock:

• Blacker Yarns
• Fybrespates
• UK Alpaca
• Patons
• King Cole
• Woolyknit
• West Yorkshire Spinners
• Chilla Valley Alpaca
• Opal
• Regia
• Toft (crochet kits)

We may have a bought just a few of these wonderful yarns, which we will look at more closely in a future post.

As well as stocking yarn there are also lots of accessories such as crochet hooks and knitting needles, handmade stitch markers and project bags. Also a fine selection of local artisan gifts including;

 Local Artisan Ken Clark's stunning handmade wooden yarn bowls.

Wychwood Dreams, handmade jewellery, stitch markers and row counters.

So, there's absolutely amazing, stunning, beautiful yarn and a great selection of local, handmade accessories and gifts. Then, to top it all off there is CAKE! Their cakes are made by a local bakery called The Exploding Bakery, discovered at a local food show. Well, we couldn't say no to a piece could we? The day we visited they had Chocolate, Sea Salt and Rye Brownies and they were bloomin' delicious. Then we washed it down some very tasty juices from Folkington Juices.

You said it!!

Ooooo cheeky

Wow! What a shop, it really has it all and such a pleasurable shopping experience. If you live near Exeter then definitely rush down there as soon as you can. If you live further afield then you should really make plans to visit them. But if it really is a little too much out of your way, then head on over to their website, where you can get all that loveliness delivered straight to your door!

http://www.woolontheexe.com/ Oh we almost forgot, you should really take a look at the upcoming workshops and book a place, we really like the look of the spinning and dying workshops.

Thank you so much to Mary Ann and Debbie for allowing us to write this review and for such an enjoyable afternoon in their wonderful shop. We will certainly be back soon!

And thank you to everyone that has taken the time to read this post and for supporting our blog.

Big love from Hannah and Cara.