#Needleworkmonday - Octopus... Octopuses... Octopi?

First off let me apologise to my fellow Needleworkers - I have been a bad friend for the past few months! I havent opened Steemit it over 3 months, so Ive missed a heck of a lot of posts and makes, but I think I am back :) Since I last posted I got some incredible crochet mojo and have been really busy working on marine animals and animal heads! Ive set up a FB page for my newly named crochet 'business' - Kimmy's Creations - and started listing on Etsy, with a long term view of crocheting full time. Work is still hectic, but im feeling motivated again to try to improve the situation.

So long story short, I have a bit of a catalogue of work to share with you guys, but I hope to do this on a more routine basis again, rather than once a quarter!

I had a quick scroll through the group today and cant believe the variety of skills that people have brought to the table now - really inspiring.

To get back in the swing of things, I want to share a collection of my makes in each post, starting this week with the octopuses :D

I follow Vanessa Mooncie's Octopus pattern from her Crochet Sea Creatures book, because it is one of my favourites. Her patterns always end up looking so lifelike and they are really easy to follow, with both diagrams and written instruction for all the parts. Sewing together is also limited, with a lot of the larger pieces being crocheted together, which is a huge plus for me! Im getting better with the needle, but it is far from my favourite part of the making process!

The Giant Green Octo is the best of my bunch I think. I didnt make him for anybody, so colour choice etc was all my own, which makes him special to me :) Ive been playing about with chunky yarn, and have found that using a 4.5mm hook, gives a really thick fabric that retains its shape quite well. The finished Octo is ~40cm wide and his tentacles are semi-manouverable.

Ive finished this pattern a few times now, and here a few tips that you might find useful if/when you fancy trying it out:

• A really important stitch in Mooncie's pattern is during Rows - she will often turn, then chain 1 and sc into the stitch in front. This boggled my mind when I was first starting these animals, but it is really easy and is a natural way of gaining a curve in the work - ideal for 3D items! I would advise the first time putting a stitch marker into your last stitch of your row, so that you can see where the hook goes - its really easy to either miss a stitch, or put an extra stitch in where it is not needed causing issues with the shape. It can also be quite tricky getting the hook through the backside of this new stitch, as it becomes quite tight from the way it is created - I use my nail to manipulate the hook through the right section.

• Carefully count stitches when doing the legs - the pattern is repetative (8 legs x 2 pieces) so it can be easy to miss sections - Ive missed whole rows before, and while some errors can be hidden when stitching together, it can change the shape of the piece.

• The bottom of Octo is given texture using bobble stitches - these should line up nicely if you've counted stitches! - and these pop out on the wrong side of the work. Ive gone through and popped mine back through to the right side on one project, which took ages and didnt look right.

• When stitching together, you can significantly change the way the legs twist by playing with missing stitches/stitching two together etc. I like to create a bit of personality by making the legs twist and turn. If you like the legs to sit curled evenly all the way around, then you must line up your stitches - this is more difficult when stitching the foundation chains together, but pinning helps :)

• Finally, dont be afraid to experiment with colour combos! I like my animals to have a bit of realism, but then infect some character in with unusual colours, so play about! Some of the combos Ive tried are below. The Yellow/blue beast was actually one requested, and I thought the colours were going to clash so badly, but I quite liked the finished thing!

I hope you all find some useful tips here - if anyone wants to try the pattern and needs some advice, please just drop me a message, and I will try to help, but generally the instructions are very easy to follow and relatively quick to work up.

Thanks and hope to hear from you all soon!