Have you ever found a crochet pattern that you couldn't stop making? I have! Ever since a preview of this pattern was posted I knew that I was going to make a few of them. The pattern in question is the crochet pony from All About Ami.
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| My first pony. |
Stephanie from All About Ami designed the pattern to celebrate Chinese New Year as 2014 is year of the horse!
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| My second pony. |
I've found two other free amigurumi patterns released for Chinese New Year if you're interested:
- Horse Amigurumi by Little Things Blogged; and
- Xiao MaEr Giddy by Ohana Craft.
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| I took these pictures close to Valentine's Day. |
What makes Stephanie's pattern so unique is the crocheted mane. Most crochet or knitted horses have manes made from strands of yarn. I much prefer the solid, puffy manes in this pattern as the other kind can end up looking a little threadbare.
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| Ponies four and five. |
The design has so many cute details; the tiny curl of the mane, the pot belly, the curled eye lashes, the curved hooves and the adorable flame shaped tail. I'm sure you can see why I'm completely smitten with this pattern!
So far I have made five ponies. After making the first two ponies I learned a few things that make the design work a little better for me.
Firstly I cut out round 4 when crocheting the head as I found it was making the piece too pointy. I like the look of the slightly rounder head better and found that I kept squishing the muzzles of my first pony in to achieve this shape.
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| Pony number five, my smallest pony. |
The second tip I've found is to use white yarn (or the same colour as the body) to sew the mane to the head. With my first pony I used the tail of the mane to attach it and the stitches ended up being visible. Using white yarn seems to help with this.
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| Pony family. |
I'd also suggest using a thicker yarn or a bigger hook when crocheting the mane. The manes on a few of my ponies are a little small. The manes definitely look cuter when they are bigger and have a nice, pronounced curl at the front.
I'm not ready to stop making this pattern yet. At least one more pony and then I'll stop... Maybe. There are just so many possible colour combinations!
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| The whole family! |
