Hello friends! I am so excited to share my latest design with you, and if Ruby Sue is any kind of barometer, your dog is going to LOVE it!
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I swore off making dog toys many years ago, in January of 2012 when I spent a full week making my very first amigurumi. I made a little goldfish for Lucy, who at the time was my baby Shih Tzu. She loved it- for two whole days. Then she proceeded to remove all of the stuffing and after having spent a whole week on the project, I said I would never again crochet a dog toy. I have made many a dog blanket and placemat for food and water bows, but I was absolutely not going to spend time making a toy for it to be immediately destroyed.
I sent a quick video clip to my daughter of Ruby playing with her brand new Crinkle Crayon within minutes of finishing it. She immediately texted me back “Um, I thought you said you would never make a dog toy again!”
As of the day I am writing this post, Ruby Sue has had her Crinkle Crayon for a full 2 weeks and plays with it for hours each day, including beating me in the face with it when I am in an important Zoom meeting or trying to sleep.
(If you would like to see the video, I did post it on her instagram for everyone to enjoy)
My favorite thing about this toy was that it did not take me a full week to make. In fact, I spent about 6 hours in total, which included deciding how to go about the design, pausing to write the instructions and hunting down more yarn scraps because I ran out twice. Oh, and I was able to use up some scrap yarn and recycle a water bottle!
I designed this pattern for the Pet Appreciation blog hop hosted by Jo’s Crafty Hook. Each day from May 1- 21, 2024 you can grab a different pattern perfect for your pets as a free PDF download. Be sure to check in each day to find the featured designer and the discount code.
Over the past 15 months, Ruby Sue and I have been working very hard at coming to an understanding about whether it is or is not appropriate to place her mouth on my crochet projects. She would very much like to chew on my working yarn and my active WIP, whereas I would like her to keep her mouth far far away from my yarn, as well as my hooks- especially when the hook is in my hand. (Yes, she will forcefully remove the crochet hook from my project when she has decided that I am paying too much attention to yarn and not enough to her.)
She was so well behaved the day I made the Crinkle Crayon. Despite empty water bottles being one of her most favorite things to play with, she did not get nosy at all as I worked this one up. It wasn’t until I grabbed a few of her toys to stage with the Crinkle Crayon for photos that she decided that my new project must in fact be for her!
I also loved that this was another design that named itself. As I mentioned, I used 3 colors of scrap yarn, not intentionally but because I underestimated the amount of yarn I had balled up- twice- and had to change colors. Between the color changes and the shape of the water bottle sleeve, it looked like a crayon. And the empty water bottle inside makes a lot of crinkly sounds. You probably have noticed by now that I love me some alliteration when I name a pattern, so clearly “Crinkle Crayon” was a no-brainer!
The timing of my designing this one was funny- at my 9-5 job we were celebrating Earth Month all through April, and there was a Repurposed Craft Contest happening. What is more repurposed than saving a water bottle from ending up in a landfill and using up some yarn scraps? I was telling my boss over Zoom about how I spent my weekend and mentioned the words “Crinkle Crayon”. Two seconds later, Ruby Sue appears in my lap, Crinkle Crayon in mouth so she can show my boss how cool it is!
I guess what I’m saying is, this toy has been a big hit over here at Straight Hooked Headquarters.
You can grab your copy of the Crinkle Crayon pattern below. On May 6, 2024 you can grab a copy of the pattern for free using the code you will find on the Pet Appreciation Blog Hop post.
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I have more pattern releases coming soon, so be sure to stay tuned!
Until next time,
Happy Hooking!
~Malena
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