Many toy photos

Like I said, I can't quite even right now (does that syntax for it even work?) with it being hot and sticky and no one being around to talk to and just everything going on, so here are some toys.

First up, ones I've made.

I don't think I EVER photographed this one and posted it, but as I remember, this was one of the critters I crocheted over Christmas break. This one was crocheted off the Little Horse Piem pattern. Her name is Pippa:



As I remember, I used Vanna's Choice for most of the pattern. I like this yarn for amigurumi: it is sturdy and easy to work with and comes in a lot of colors, BUT it is less scratchy and rough than some other 100% acrylics. (Red Heart Super Saver, I am looking at YOU).

And these are the three critters I made over my (unintentionally) extended break in May (and also, I was home alone a lot while my dad was in the hospital). You've already seen Crispin and Cow-Cow (in webcam photos), but I never got the third critter photographed:



Crispin is knitted - a Barbara Anderson pattern, if I remember - and Cow-Cow is crocheted. The third critter is Lucinda, a Shetland pony made off the Kathleen the Shetland Pony pattern

This is one of those patterns where you more or less just have to trust the pattern. At several points, while working on it, I was going "what the heck am I doing here? This doesn't make sense" but ultimately it does work. (You need circular needles for the pattern, because there are a lot of stitches, and you need it to be flexible).

I used Heartland....heathery colors. I debated whether to get fantasy colors like what the pattern shows (their Kathleen is done in pink) but I couldn't find any I liked, so I went with an oatmeal sort of color and a darker color for the mane and hooves.




I also did her face differently - using lock-washer eyes and also setting them a bit higher than on the original model.


Added: a couple webcam shots. She has a strange shape (squat and fat, but maybe that's typical of a Shetland pony):

 And Lucinda *swears* she is 100% Shetland pony and not even a little tiny bit kelpie.. Now, don't you want to hop on her back and go for a ride along the surf?......



And here are the commercially-made toys. Most of these are 20-30 years old...





Both sets of those you've seen before. I did grab them and bring them back with me (tucked them in one of my little knitting bags). I decided I wanted to have them nearby, since I remembered them.

And all the ponies. First of all, my glitter-embedded Ponies. (the little dark one is a Unicorgi that I bought from Clockways Arts, and twice-as-fancy Trixie is there even if she's not *really* glitter-embedded):



I just like the glitter-embed ponies. I think I have all of the G1 babies that were made like that. I think there are 2 or 3 G1 adult glitter ponies I lack, but I've not seen good-condition ones for a good price.

And all my yellow ponies with pink hair - a favorite color combination for me. (I will have to move these out of the sun very soon - Posey and also Milkweed and Tumbleweed have what's called "fading pink" hair - the dye used in it breaks down in UV light and you often find these ponies with bleached hair. My Up Up and Away had that happen to her before I got her. Some people "re pink" with either Rit dye or the paste food coloring for cake decorating, but....I don't want to mess with that.



And this is Curly Locks. She has a gimmick - you pull her tail (gently!) and it "grows," and you can take it back up by ratcheting her head back and forth:



Long tail!




Short tail!

Yes, the mechanism still works, but I have no idea how fragile it is so I don't do it often. (I dropped her once when I was trying to put her back on the shelf and was afraid I'd broken it, but no, I hadn't)