Dollar tree crochet kit

One of the crochet kits I found at the Dollar tree a few weeks ago, definitely not something that will teach you how to crochet as the instructions are rather vague.. that aside they make for great carry alongs .. 

Have almost everything you need to make it, yarn, stuffing, crochet hook that looks to be about a 3 mm, embroidery floss where the facial features, plastic needle, and safety eyes.. a couple of the other kids I had picked up we're a bit different the crochet hook was marked as a 3 mm and made out of aluminum instead of plastic and it had a stitch marker as well as the needle being just a little bit bigger,  the instructions were still a little bit lacking so I wouldn't call those a beginner kit either... But they are definitely fun and worth the $1.25 

I did add a couple of rows to the ears, 

And added a pom-pom tail, also worked in spirals as it is my preferred method for making toys or in this case a charm for my mother to clip on to one of her bags ..

I have plenty of yarn to work it up and more than half of the stuffing left over after making a few different ones I was able to make several other projects from the yard and stuff and leftover

Needle felted monster thingys

In my scrap yarn stash I've had a baggie full of light worsted weight scraps  ( Mainstay ) from an inkle weaving project.. used a few bits here and there but didn't want to use it for stuffing or tie the ends together to add to my yarn ball... I swear I will get back to that some day 😁... as the pieces were fairly long and seamed like they could be more useful... how I had no clue... until 

 I came across a needle felting video about adding hair to a project.. she called it a monster... so cute..

 After seeing some super realistic looking needle felting, I did want to try adding hair to something, but I will admit the super realistic looking critters .... they kind of creep me out.... 

I personally prefer not so realistic looking little critters sitting on my shelf ..

 the talent and skill that go into these is just amazing and awe-inspiring.. I find it fascinating to watch... just not something I want to do at least not at this point.. but that monster oh yeah I had to try a few of those...

Started by brushing out all of the yarn scraps with a pet brush ..

 The fibers that were "carded" caught up in the brushes, kind of a light felting or matting... I replaced in the baggie to use as my core fiber... the main body filler.. the term they use is core wool so I suppose I could just call it core acrylic.. anyhow I set that aside to

 

proceed with using a hair straightening iron to smooth out all of the strands that had remained straight-ish a bit better, the process also adds a nice shine to it, although I did not straighten it too much as I wanted a bit of a wonky look.. still ended up on the smooth side once it got it on..

 Set that aside going back to the core stuff I rolled it nice and tight .. as tight as I could with it puffing out every where.. 

I had picked up a felting kit from the Dollar tree.. actually my son went into the Dollar tree and found them ... I was outside sitting in the car working on crochet watching his doggie.. he only came out with three so I sent him back in for a couple more.. I couldn't believe it... I had asked him to pick up one of the small crochet kits.. he didn't even realize he picked up a felting kit LOL

while I can't use the wool in it... 

Or at least shouldn't.. ( serious reaction and allergy to wool and lanolin )

 I will admit I'm kind of tempted to put on safety gear and try it just to see what the difference is.. maybe I could get away with trying some wet felting outside with a mask on and huge rubber gloves or something... 

Okay back to this project the kit came with three needles ( if I had to guess I would say 36, 38 and 40 triangular ) and this neat little foam pad to felt on.. just the right size for a small project like this.. it also had the wool needed in the colors called for, plus an eye pin and little cord like thingy with a jump ring and  lobster claw on the end that I have since learned can be used to hang things off of phones... and whatnot ... Side note looking things up when you don't know the name is a very long process.... I definitely needed to get a few of those especially after it took me so long to figure out what they were called LOL lanyard phone ring strap on Amazon if your wondering..

Anyhow where was I ... 

I made my core very firm as I knew I would be keeping my hair rows close together and the firmness would be necessary... plus I just like they feel of it... Yeah okay it is also very satisfying for some reason to stab yarn fibers thousands of times over and get a solid shape out of it... 

Added felted eyes

I cut the "hair" in two inch sections.. and put the rows almost on top of each other they were that close... I did have to stop and find some of the smaller scraps that I had used on other projects to finish up the top of the head as I had run through everything I had prepared just at the last couple of rows.. talk about yarn chicken ugh.. it's a good thing I had already decided I wanted the hair to stand up more on the top and was able to use some smaller pieces to fill it in, lesson learned you definitely need more yarn than you would think at least more than I thought...

Using a 40 gauge triangular needle for the vast majority of it, only in the beginning did I use a 38 triangular, so far in my limited experience I find the 40 triangular to work the best for me with or worsted weight acrylic fibers.

I used a eyebrow brush/comb that I had purchased from yep the Dollar tree to use with my amigurumi doll hair... to smooth it out a bit as I went along, this particular yarn was full of static and tended to be very fly away, so I was moistening my fingers with a light mist of water as needed .. this really helped speed things up which was kind of nice as this is a very long and sort of tedious process ... but so worth it ... it turned out so cute 

I worked in circles around the base/body until I came to the eyes, between the eyes I kept the lower half worked downwards and the top upwards, I wanted the hair on the top of the head to stand upward ( good thing as previously stated lol ) ... so I added a part in the center of the head and worked rows downward from there meeting up with the circular rows I had done prior.. 

Not exactly like the video monster.. more of a "thing" vibe going here.. flat out love them .. 

This one is made with Simply Soft yarn by Caron with a part down the middle .. pre hair trimming .. core if mixed scraps.. no ironing 

Also Simply Soft with no ironing, but the cord was Simply Soft.. took forever to felt.. or about a half hour longer.... being the first and last with of anything a silky yarn core.. actually was the first of the monster thingys .. which I am sure is pretty obvious LOL I think he's gorgeous so I'm keeping this one.. and that one above this.. 

 

Both Simply Soft with random scraps core, both ironed and styled differently ... each has it's own one of a kind look ..