Pirate Shield!

I was in a toy shop full of wooden toys recently, and they had some wonderful shield designs! I was inspired by them to create this pirate shield for my 8 year old nephew, and given that it was on his arm for the rest of the evening, I think it was a success!

I found the shape of the shield and the skull and cross bones design on Google, and resized them for my needs! The shield is a bit bigger than A4, and made out of mountboard. It has a back piece, through which the elastic is threaded (see below); a main piece, which is the black background, and the white details added as an extra layer, all very well glued together!

The mount board makes for quite a sturdy shield, and really affordable - although it will take dings a bit more easily than wood! I love the raised effect of the design, and the options really are endless to make other shields, especially if you design your own coat of arms!

As you can see, I used some wide elastic (that I actually had left over from a belt I made myself) sandwiched between the layers of mountboard so that it can be held on the arm without it interfering with any essential jousting! (Do pirates joust? Whatever it is pirates do!)

Unicorn Cross Stitch

I found the chart for this unicorn cross stitch over on Do Small Things With Love, and I thought it would make a lovely gift for a unicorn obsessed friend! I used sparkly aida, and threads I had in my stash. I backed it with white felt (a Google search suggested a running stitch around the aida at the back, then tacking a felt circle over the top, and I'm happy with it!) and added some extra hearts.

Crochet Penguin

So, when I shared my Crochet Robin back in November, I mentioned that I had already used All About Ami's pattern as it was originally intended, for a penguin! This little penguin has waddled off to his new home now, so I thought I would share him :) He is rather cute!

His scarf is detachable, his eyes are made with felt, and he has a little tag for delivery!

Here, you can see my robin and penguin together. I followed the pattern the same for both of them (although I think I adjusted the tummy slightly on both too). I used the same size hook. And I thought I used double knitting wool for both - the purple definitely is. The brown however, came out of my Mum's stash without a label - I'm suspecting it might be 4 ply given the size difference, or can double knitting wool (and my tension?!) really vary this much?!

Star Wars: Luke Skywalker, X-wing Pilot

I'm afraid this is the third and final installment of this mini Star Wars week. But, it is Luke Skywalker. In his X-Wing outfit.

A fiddly little one this one, especially with the helmet, I love the finished thing though.

Pattern, as always, from Lucy Ravenscar's Star Wars crochet amigurumi collection.

Have you seen my complete Star Wars crochet series? Click here for a recap!