Amigurumi Elephant

I have been crocheting an elephant for the Animating Accy project this week and it's almost finished. I have decided to let Caroline from Huckleberry Films (the creators of Animating Accy) decide on what eyes it should have and tomorrow we will visit Duckworth's Wool Shop in Accrington to buy the finishing touches. I'll post some more pictures up over the weekend once the Elephant is all finished, but until then this is how it was made...

7 different pieces are made with aran yarn and a size 4mm hook...

All the pieces then get sewed into position ...

And here he is....

The nice thing about the Japanese crochet art 'Amigurumi' is that most of the pattern is made up of separate parts that are made from different sized crochet balls, keeping the patterns nice and simple to create whilst giving a really cute and 'cartoony' appearance.

I think I'll be making some more in the future... here are a few examples of other Amigurumi animals...

Knitting & Crochet Circle

This Saturday, 11th September,  ArtYarn would like to invite you to a public knitting and crochet event at Accrington Market Hall from 11am until 3pm, drop in any time and enjoy a knit and a natter. We will be in the LET space (small market stall) directly outside Habiknit wool shop.

• All are welcome, from experienced to beginners, or  come and refresh your skills. 

• All ages welcome

• Bring along your knitting or crochet project 

• Meet like other knitters and crocheters from the area

• Swap creative ideas

• Take part in 'Crocheting Accy' - A community Arts Project for Accrington

• The session is completely free and materials will be provided for all. 

ArtYarn will have a selection of free patterns for you to take away, books and magazines to browse, and ArtYarn will be on hand to teach you new techniques and would especially love to teach anyone who would like to learn knitting or crochet.


Details

Location: Peel Street, Town Centre, Accrington BB5 1HB (Click for Map)
Time: Anytime between 11am & 3pm
Cost: FREE
Age: All

Animating Accy...

One of the most wonderful aspects of this project is having the opportunity of collaborating on a project with Caroline and David who are the marvelous Huckleberry Films.
When they release their new animation 'Animating Accy' in mid October,  see how many knitted and crocheted features you can spot in the film.

They have also asked me to make this little fella especially for the film, please visit the blog again soon to see how the Amigurumi Elephant is coming along....

Click here for the crochet pattern

Floral Market Town...

Many of the crocheted pieces, and the majority of the crocheted sculptures will be inspired by the many floral hangings and stands dotted in and around Accrington. I've been snapping away this week to get some inspiration for the form of the sculptures ....

New crochet pieces

Here are a few new pieces of crochet, which have been made by myself and by a few ladies who have stopped by and had a go at crochet for them selves.

If you would like to have a go at crochet, or if you can already crochet and would like to contribute to the project, this week I will be Accrington Market Hall on the following days:

Thursday 9th Sept: 10 - 1

Friday 10th Sept: 10 - 1

Saturday 11th Sept: 10 - 4

Interesting sites ...

On Friday afternoon the lovely Caroline from Huckleberry Films gave me the grand tour of Accrington town centre. Being an Accrington girl herself, Caroline knew all the hotspots of the town and it was a really useful walk about for me as I now have a better idea of some spaces in the town where I can install the crochet sculptures, once they are build in early October.

I would like to place the sculptures in locations that correspond to John Flanagan's phase 1 project 'Mapping Accy', and also in keeping with the narrative of the  animation film of Accrington by Huckleberry Films.

I took a few photos of some interesting places around the town to be thinking about over the next few weeks, and I will be doing various pieces of research on each of these areas along side building the sculptures.

1) This hook for a hanging basket, outside Annie's Cafe in the Victorian Arcade, would be just perfect for a floral crocheted hanging - using the theme of Accrington named as a 'Floral Market Town'. 

Annie's Cafe has also been talked about lot's in the research carried out by Caroline and David for their animation piece. It seems like Annie's Cafe is right at the heart of a lot of the locals.

2) The Bee's Knees has been talked about lot's over the past few weeks. It is currently being renovated, and from what I have heard it has been a very popular watering hole for many a year. I'm currently digging deeper to find out more info about the Bees Knee's, so if you have any stories or memories please leave me a comment.

3) This is Accrington Library, and at the foot of the stairs sits this beautiful Owl statue...

I'm well informed that there will be an 'Owl' character in the Animation Accy film... so maybe this is a good location too for one of the sculptures.

4) And this spot is an unused ourdoor lamp at St James church. This could be an interesting, little hidden spot to place something rather beautiful. 

St James church is also one of the venues being talked about for a launch event later on in October when the projects come to an end.

First weekend at Accrington Market Hall

It was a great first weekend in at Accrington market hall.
Friday and Saturday saw the first two scheduled Learn To Crochet workshops at the market stand, which will be my home for the next month or so.
I will be running lots more drop-in sessions over the next few weeks if you would like to take part in the project. (dates details are at the end of those post)

For the first stage of this project I am really eager to get as many people to learn to crochet as possible. Once i have taught the basics, I am asking people to make a little piece of creative crochet that will be included in a series of new sculptural pieces that will hang in the market hall and around the town centre.

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by and took part in the session, and to those who took the time to stop and chat to me about the project. I was really pleased to hear the many fond memories and stories from people remembering aunts, grandmothers and mothers crocheting clothes, blankets.... toilet roll covers!!!!!  and that they are looking forward to seeing the final stages of the project come together.

Here are a few snaps from the weekend:

Setting up the space on Friday morning.....

As you will notice, I have the perfect spot in the market hall..... right outside the wool shop!

Accrington Habiknit

View of the market hall from the stand at the end of a very busy day.

Hanging out some samples for passers by to see...

These sprials are really easy to make and I spent Saturday afternoon teaching the ladies in the next photo how to make them...

Melissa from the local knit and natter group stopped by to take part in the crochet session with her friend...

Melissa made this crochet piece of free formed crochet based around a traditional granny square pattern, to contribute to the project.... Thank you Melissa.

It's not often I voluntarily upload a picture of myself to the internet, however I could not miss out this one of me (on the right) teaching to lovely Pippa (aged 8) and her mum Deborah, who were the first passers by to stop and have a go at crochet. Deborah took away some yarn and a hook to carry on what she learnt and will be bringing back some crochet pieces for the project.

Pippa on the other hand made this wonderful flower, with a little it of help from yours truly....

Also.. Pippa old me that her favourite colour in the whole world is pink!

Thank you pippa!

And here are some of the pieces we have made so far for the Crocheting Accy project.

Over the next few weeks I will be running some more Learn To Crochet workshops at the Market Hall.

Then dates are: 

• Friday 3rd September 10am - 1pm

• Saturday 4th September 10am - 1pm

• Thursday 9th  September 10am - 1pm

• Friday 10th  September 10am - 1pm

• Saturday 11th  September 10am - 1pm

I have also been kindly invited along to the first Knit & Natter group at the Civic Arts Centre in Oswaldtwistle on Wednesday 1st September and I will be there between 11am and 2.30pm.

I hope you can make it along to one of my drop in sessions to learn how to crochet.

There are also other ways to take part in the project....

Towards the end of September I will be starting to piece together several sculptures that will be made out of the crochet pieces made at the drop in workshop sessions.

I will soon be releasing the dates for these sessions so keep posted!

And one final thing.... some wacky crochet  to inspire you, and also my dream home, a house full of crochet!