When good bunnies go bad

We all know that I'm creative and we all know I have a twisted sense of humor. Combine that with a brand new quick-to-crochet peeps pattern and the idea of a zombie army and you get my main source of entertainment for the past week. Sure, there are other things I should be working on, there are other things I want to be working on, but the bunnies keep calling me... Hey, at least I'm entertained!

Cute but Psycho

Frankenbunny

Zombie Bunny

Fabio Bunny

Captain Jack Rabbit

A Very Fluffy Bunny

Go forth and make BUNNEHS!

I finished the dozen of rainbow peeps right under the wire for last week's weekly challenge (finished 2 minutes before the deadline and scored a total of 105 points for Slytherin!!!), so what does mooseinakilt do? She posts another challenge! "Mrs. Norris has been petrified and Filch is lost without her! Even though he can be a right pain in the bum, seeing his sad face is just too much to bear. That and someone let off about 20 dungbombs on the third floor and they're not going to clean themselves! I've only managed to find one thing to cheer him up: bunnies - caught him looking at my pet rabbit the other day, the softie. So, in the spirit of spring and to get Filch our of this funk, we're going to need a lot of bunnies..."

After spending last week with my peeps, it only made sense to make some marshmallow bunnies to match! And since I couldn't find a pattern I liked I just had to make one and share it with everyone!

Marshmallow Bunnies

Materials
-Worsted weight yarn
-E hook
-Stuffing
-Tapestry needle

Directions
Note: This pattern is not worked in continuous rounds. At the end of each row, join to the first stitch with a slip stitch, then ch 1 and sc in the same stitch to start the next row.

Ear 1
R1: ch 2, 4 sc in second ch from hook, ss to first sc. (4sc)
R2: ch 1, (sc, 2 sc in next st) 2 times, ss to first sc. (6sc)
R3: ch 1, sc in each st around, ss to first sc. (6sc)
R4-6: Repeat R3. finish off at end of R6. Stuff ear (try using the end of crochet hook to get stuffing to tip of ear)

Ear 2
Repeat first ear, but do not finish off at end of R6. Stuff ear.

Head and Body
R7: Continuing from Ear 2, ch 1, sc in next 5 sts, starting in third stitch of ear one 6 sc around, sc in remaining st of Ear 2, ss to first sc. (12sc)
R8: ch 1, (2 sc, 2 sc in next st) 4 times around, ss to first sc. (16sc)
R9: ch 1, (3 sc, 2 sc in next st) 4 times around, ss to first sc. (20sc)
R10: ch 1, sc in each st around, ss to first sc. (20sc)
R11: ch 1, (3 sc, 2sctog) 4 times around, ss to first sc. (16sc)
R12: ch 1, (2 sc, 2sctog) 4 times around, ss to first sc. (12sc)
Stuff head
R13-14: Repeat R8-9
R15: ch 1, (3 sc, 2 sc in next st) 5 times around, ss to first sc. (25sc)
R16-17: sc in each st around, ss to first sc. (25sc)
R18: ch 1, (3 sc, 2sctog) 5 times around, ss to first sc. (20sc).
R19-20: repeat R11-12
Stuff body
R21: ch 1, (sc, 2sctog) 4 times around, ss to first sc. (8sc)
Finish off. Using tapestry needle, gather last 8 stitches.
With scrap of black yarn and tapestry needle, stitch eyes between R9 and R10, and nose between R10 and R11.

YOU! Go crochet a chicken ;)

That was a message that greeted me last night when I signed in to facebook. Probably one of the strangest things that anyone has ever posted on my wall, especially since it actually made sense. My friend, mooseinakilt, has recently taken on the role of providing weekly challenges at Hogwarts at Ravelry and she posted the first assignment last night at midnight EST. The assignment was "Poor Hagrid is loosing roosters left and right! He needs your help rounding up some more chickens so we don't have to resort to eating flobber worms or blast-ended skrewts." Of course, her midnight is my 9pm, so I decided that I should really crochet a chicken before going to bed.

Now, what you have to understand is that I couldn't find any chicken colored yarn last night and the closest thing I had to my computer was a skein of lime green Red Heart Super Saver yarn. I also happened to have a crochet hook. Knowing that nothing good can come from this combination (especially after just seeing Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland), I grabbed a box of peeps and started crocheting away. As an added bonus, I'm totally going to use it for my upcoming spring themed cat toy swap! Yay!

Marshmallow Chick

Materials

-Worsted weight yarn (in main chick color and a scrap of black for eyes)

-F hook

-Tapestry needle

-Polyseter fiber fill (or other type of stuffing)

Gauge tight enough so stuffing doesn't show

Special Stitches
sc2tog: *insert hook in next st, pull up loop* 2 times, yo and pull through all 3 loops on hook
sc3tog: *insert hook in next st, pull up loop* 3 times, yo and pull through all 4 loops on hook

Directions

Rnd 1: ch 11, sc in second ch from hook and in next 8 ch, 3sc in end ch, 8sc working down opposite side of ch, 2sc in same ch as first st, ss to first st. (22 sc)

Rnd 2: ch 1, hdc in same sc and in next 8 sc, 2hdc in next st, 3hdc in next st, 2hdc in next st, 8hdc, 2hdc in next st, 3hdc in next st, hdc in same st as first hdc, ss to first hdc. (30 hdc)

Rnd 3: ch 1, working in back loops only sc in same st and in next 25 sts, sc3tog , sc in next st, ss to first sc. (28 sts)

Rnd 4: ch 1, working in both loops sc same st and next st tog, 8 sc, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, 8 sc, sc2tog, sc3tog, ss to first st. (22 sts)

Rnd 5: ss in next st, ch 1, sc in same st and  next 6sc, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, 7 sc, sc3tog, ss to first st. (18 sts)
Rnd 6: ch 1, 2 sc in same st, 5 sc, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, 5 sc, 2 sc in each of next 2 sts, ss to first st. (19 sts)
Firmly stuff bottom of body up to this row
Rnd 7: ch 1, 2 sc in same st, 4 sc, sc2tog, sc, sc2tog, 5sc, 2sc in next 3 sts, ss to first st. (20 sts)
Rnd 8: ch 1, *3sc, sc2tog* 4 times around, ss to first st. (16 sts)
Rnd 9: ch 1, *2sc, sc2tog* 4 times around, ss to first st. (12 sts)
Finish stuffing head
Rnd 10: ch 1, *sc, sc2tog* 4 times around, ss to first st, finish off, leave long tail for sewing top closed and adding beak. (8sts)
Using the tapestry needle, run the tail through the top 8 stitches and gather tight to close. Stitch a triangle over the middle of rnd 8 and 9 for the beak.
Stitch eyes between rnd 8 and 9 with black.

Heroes in a Halfshell on a Coffee Mug

Last week I was talking about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with some friends (don't ask me why... it just happens), I looked down at my mug cozy and thought "hey... the ties could totally be headband ties. I bet a TMNT cozy would be fun to make." I pesterd my best friend to discover that her favorite turtle is Raphael so I made my test pattern in red for her.

I posted this cozy to my Harry Potter DADA class (gotta get those points for Slytherin, you know!) and was blown away by the response so I agreed to write up the pattern. Raphael was awesome, but he wasn't quite there so brought it to work with me the next day and the TMNT fans around the office decided that his headband ties needed to wider and the eyes a bit smaller.

Last night I tried again with Michelangelo (he's my favorite!) and I'm really happy with the results. Without further ado, here is the pattern for the Mikey version.

Turtle Power! Mug Cozy

Materials:
-Worsted weight yarn in green, white, black, and orange (substitue red for Raphael, purple for Donatello, or blue for Leonardo). I used Vanna's choice for everything but the headband which I used Red Heart.
-G Hook for cozy and whites of eyes
-E Hook for pupils
-Tapestry needle

Gauge:
Base rounds 1-7 = 3 inches = Base of a standard coffee mug

Special Stitches:
hdcdec: Half double crochet decrease (yo, insert hook in next st, yo pull up loop, yo, insert hook in next st, yo pull up loop, yo, pull through all 5 loops on hook)

Base worked in continuous rounds
R1: With green and using G hook, ch 2, 6 sc in second ch from hook (6sc)
R2: 2 sc in each sc around (12sc)
R3: *2sc in next st, sc* 6 times around (18sc)
R4: *2sc in next st, 2sc* 6 times around (24sc)
R5: *2sc in next st, 3sc* 6 times around (30sc)
R6: *2sc in next st, 4sc* 6 times around (36sc)
R7: *2sc in next st, 5sc* 6 times around (42sc)

Sides worked in rows back and forth
R8: ch 1 (does not count as stitch now and throughout), in back loop only hdc in each st around. ss to first hdc. ch 1, turn (42hdc)
R9: Working in both loops, hdc in each st around. ss to first hdc, ch 1, turn. (42 hdc)
R10: hdcdec over next 2 sts, 38hdc, hdcdec over last 2 sts, ch 1, turn. Do not join to first stitch of this row. (40 hdc)
R11: hdcdec over next 2 sts, 36hdc, hdcdec over last 2 sts, ch 1, turn. (38hdc)
R12: hdc in each st around, finish off, cut green. (38hdc)
R13: join orange with ss, ch 1, hdc in each st around, ch 1, turn. (38hdc)
R14: hdc in each st around, ch 1, turn. (38hdc)
R15: hdc in each st around, finish off, cut orange. (38hdc)
R16: join green with ss, ch 1, hdc in each st around, finish off, cut green. (38hdc)

Ties
Using G hook join orange with ss at end of R14, ch 30, sc in second ch from hook and in next 3 sts, hdc to end of ch, ss to end of R15, cut orange. (4sc, 25hdc)
Repeat tie on opposite end of mug.

Eyes
R1: With white and using G hook, ch 2, 6sc in second ch from hook. Do not join to first st. (6sc)
R2: 2sc in each st around, ss to first st, cut white. (12sc)
R3: Join orange with sc in any st, sc in each st around, ss to first st, leave long tail for sewing and cut orange. This last row will want to curve a bit. That's ok. It will flatten when you sew it to the sides of the cozy.

Pupils
R1: With black and using E hook, ch 2, 6sc in second ch from hook, ss to first sc, leave long tail for sewing and cut black. (6sc)

Assembly
Sew pupils to eyes using black tail from pupil.
Fold cozy in half, place one eye on orange headband to left of fold and the other eye to the right leaving a small space between. Sew eyes to headband using orange tail from eyes.
Weave in ends.