Everybody Needs Minions!

If you haven't seen Despicable Me yet this summer, you really should. It truly is a lot of fun. One of those great movies that's good for all ages. Keeps you laughing, but has a bit of heart too. Of course, I'm still torn as to whether or not the minions were the best part or if it was the adorable little girls that our evil main character is forced to take in.

While watching the movie I couldn't help thinking that those minions would be pretty easy to recreate in crochet. WolfDreamer beat me to the punch though in actually converting that thought into a pattern. Click the link to check out the free pattern, which even includes a few tips at the end on how to make a nice variety of different minions. Because if you're going to rule the world, you're going to need more than one minion.

Slicker Brush Revisited

I've been having fun with my new slicker brush and I thought readers might enjoy seeing the results. Here are three patterns that I've made before, now re-crocheted and brushed out with the slicker brush. All three fluffy amigurumis were made using various shades of Vanna's Choice worsted weight yarn. As you can tell from the pictures I've got a lot of grey yarn to use up.

Above you see the Owl pattern from Ana Paula Rimoli's Amigurumi World: Seriously Cute Crochet crocheted regularly on the left and then crocheted and brushed out on the right. Below is the Bunny Ami pattern from the same book.

The koala comes from Tamie Snow's Tiny Yarn Animals.

I managed to brush out all of these without ripping any holes in the crochet so my technique is getting better. However, I did learn the hard way that you should always put in the safety eyes after brushing the stitching. I forgot and put in the koala's eyes before brushing and it was quite the challenge to brush around them. You can't see it in the pictures, but his little black eyes have been scratched up pretty badly by the brush.

And what will I be doing with all these fluffy critters? I gave the white owl to my grandma who is a collector of owls and was the recipient of the owl on the left a couple of years ago. She could hardly believe it was the same pattern, as the brushing gave it a totally new look. As for the other two, they may be donated to charity or given away as gifts. I haven't decided yet.

Did you see my first slicker brush project? If not, check out Penny the Penguin.