It's here! The final part of the Crochet Along is today! We only have the finishing touches left to make (the ears and the flower) and then we will assemble it! Woo Hoo! You will have until next Saturday, September 4th, to assemble your lovey and post a photograph in the VIP Facebook group to claim your prize(s).
Please remember to submit a post to the VIP Facebook group with your photograph and include the hashtag ----> #COWCAL in your caption so that I can easily find your post and make sure you get your prize!
If you really want a chance to win the Designers Choice Award here are a few articles you might enjoy reading about how to photograph your crochet projects from BellaCoco and Repeat Crafter Me!
A great photo will help increase your chance of winning the Designer's Choice Award so go all out as much as you can! I use my cell phone to take all of my photos so it's definitely possible to get cute photos even if you do not have a professional camera! Have fun!
Here is a reminder of what prizes I will be giving out so make sure you read the details carefully so you qualify for as many of them as you can! I will be sure to drop a few hints this week in the Facebook group as to what some of the "surprise prizes" might be!
Note: This post contains affiliate links in which I may earn a small commission on for clicks and or purchases at no extra cost to you. This helps me provide the blog, website, and pattern free to you. Without your support I could not provide these services and products and my family and I thank you!
Prizes will be as follows:
Participation Prize: All participants who post a final photo in the VIP Facebook group with the hashtag #COWCAL will get a FREE PDF downloadable/printable copy of the pattern from my Ravelry Shop! Post photos by Saturday, September 4th!
Photo Contest: By September 6th (this gives everyone two extra days to get votes) the person who received the most unique comments, likes, hearts, smiley face emojis will win a "SURPRISE PRIZE!" *in the past the prizes have been something such as skeins of yarn, a years worth of patterns, crochet gift set, giftcards... etc etc, so be sure to take some great photos!
Designers Choice Award: I will personally pick a participant to win a "Suprise Prize" based on participation, VIP group interactions, finished project and photo. The more you participate in the group on post related to the Crochet Along the more chances you have to win!
If you have not started on the Crochet Along yet, or you are running behind on it, that is perfectly ok! You still have plenty of time to catch up this week!
Fortunately, this pattern is super easy and fast to work up so if you would like to get started or would like to catch up on any missed weeks you can do so by clicking on the links below:
There has been some great participation in the VIP Facebook group so far! I am loving how they are coming along and the color schemes that some of the members have chosen! I am on the edge of my seat with excitement and curiosity!
I can't wait to see how the finished projects come out! Below are a few members progress photos that have left me with a lot of excited anticipation to see how they come out at the end!
Maja Fjellvang has chosen a wonderful color combination! I love the blue and the mauve-maroonish color she chose for her border and I love how it accents the cream color so well!
Tanya Person has chosen some traditional Moo Moo Cow colors, with brown, black, and white and its coming along adorably!
Sherry Poulin has me super excited about seeing this lovey done with her variegated yarn! She is catching up but has shared photos of the head and legs and I am super excited to see how hers comes out with the "rainbow" yarn that she has chosen to accent her cow with!
Unfortunately, she lost the sleeve to the "rainbow" yarn and doesn't remember its name or brand ha ha! So we will have to do some "googling" or "asking around" to figure out what the name of it is ha ha!
So now it is time for us to finish up these lovey's! I simply can't wait to see how they come out at the end! I am giddy with excitement!
Here is a reminder of the materials needed and the stitches you need to know!
Materials:
Worsted Weight 4 yarn - two colors of choice
Hooks
H or 5mm for main sections
If you would like to make the lovey smaller you can use a G4mm
3mm for flower
E or 3.5 mm if making eyes
Scissors
Needles:
Darning Needle
Curved Tapestry/Upholstery Needle *optional but very useful when attaching the ears and flower
I love using the curved tapestry/upholstery needle for sewing parts onto the outside of plushies and amigurumi projects! It makes it super easy as you see in the photo above! If none of your local stores carries these you can use my link below to grab a set from Amazon!
Stitches:
Ch - chain
Sc - single crochet
Sl st - slip stitch
Dc - double crochet
Sk - skip a stich/space
Sp - space
#st - complete # number of sts in same space
St # - complete stitch in next # number of spaces
( ) - do all in the same stitch
You will have two options for making the ears so be sure to read through both options and check out the photos for each and then make a decision on which way you would like to make yours.
If you would like to have thinner simple ears you might want to use option 1 and if you want thicker more detailed ears I recommend option 2! Here are the details and photos for each:
Cow Ears Option 1: H5 mm hook - make 2
Begin: With white or choice of color, ch 7.
Round 1: Sl st, sc, (hdc, dc), (dc, hdc), sc, sl st, continuing around to unworked side of ch, sl st, sc, (hdc, dc), (dc, hdc), sc, sl st, sl st to join to first st of around.
Attach to head: Using curved needle or darning needle sew to head approx. 1 inch behind eyes. I positioned my ears at the outer edges my eyes.
Cow Ears Option 2: H5 mm hook
Outer Ears: For thicker ears, make 4 of option 1.
Inner Ear - make 2:
Begin: With Coral or choice of color, ch 5.
Round 1: Sl st, sc, hdc, sc, continuing around to unworked side of ch, sc, hdc, sc, sl st, sl st to join to first st, fasten off.
Assemble: Sew one inner ear to one of the outer ears and repeat once more. Next, sew the last two outer ears to the backside of the units you just completed.
Now that you have your ears you can add a little flower accent! If you are giving this to a baby boy feel free to leave this off or if you are creative enough you could make up some horns to add to it and turn it into a bull ha ha!
Maybe one day I'll get a chance to think through adding a horn option but for now it's easy to make this cow work for either a girl or a boy by your color choices and by adding or omitting the flower!
Here are the instructions for the flower:
Flower: 3.5 mm hook
Begin: With Gray or choice of color, MR, ch 1.
Round 1: Sc 5, change colors to coral or choice of color before finishing the last stitch, pull tight to close, sl st together. (5st)
Round 2: *(Ch 2, dc2, ch 2, sl st to join, all in same sp)*, sl st in next st, repeat *to* 4 more times, sl st to join to bottom of first ch, fasten off.
Attach: Using curved needle or darning needle sew to desired position on cow. I chose to sew to the bottom of the right ear.
Now it is time to put everything together! Yay!
Final Assembly:
Begin: With needle sew the completed headpiece to the center of the lovey facing either a corner or side of preference. Next, sew legs under the head to desired position. The photo below shows the tapered end of the legs tucked under the head and sewn in place.
Note: there is no one exact way to sew everything together so if you find it easier to attach the legs first and then the head feel free to do so!
Note: for an extra cow-like look, if desired, massage/squeeze the snout into a rectangle like shape as a final touch
And you are done! You should now have something that looks similar to this:
Congratulations on finishing the Cow Lovey! Now it is time to take you some great photographs and post them in the VIP Facebook group!
Don't forget to include #COWCAL when you submit your post so that I can find your post to give you your prize! This is also how people can vote on your photo for the photo contest!
You are welcome to solicit likes, hearts, and comments in a creative way in your post to drum up your chances of winning the photo contest! Have fun with it!
Next Saturday, September 7th, I will begin choosing the winners and start distributing prizes so get your photos submitted as soon as possible to have the most chances at winning as possible!
Thank you again for joining me on this crochet-along and I look forward to seeing your photos this week! Have a great weekend and I'll see you again soon!
May lots of blessings find their way to you this week!
Karen E.
Orchid and Bee's