I was going to make a pink rabbit but fell in love with the hippo so made her instead. Another make from Edwards Menagerie, this is a great book with simple animal patterns great for beginners too.
That is a great thing about these animals, the main body parts are he same for most of the animals, it’s the head, ears and tails that are the defining features. You can start with a certain animal in mind and then change your mind as many times as you like while making the body, arms and legs. I applaude the author, Kerry Lord, for this simple idea.
I have named her Hilda, for some reason I think it suits her. I have used some of the lovely cotton yarn that was kindly donated to our Yarnbombing from Best of Crochet and the good news is I think I will have enough of leftovers from the other colours to make another one but in my favouite………. stripes! The plan is to make a collection of these gorgeous creatures for this years project, I just need to come up with a unique way of displaying them.
Any ideas?
thegrangerange.wordpress.com 
My hippo head finishes at row 20, leaving a gaping hole where the nose should be. Don’t understand the pattern!!
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Just been looking at Hilda again trying to remember. If you read page 16 Standard Forms it tells you to thread the yarn through the remaining stitches, stopping at 18 stitches is what keeps her snout nice and fat. Have you tried stuffing the head and drawing it closed? If you are not happy with how that looks you could also do one last round and sc 2 tog down to 9 stitches then finish off. Let me know how you get on and if I can help any more I will certainly try. I know how frustrating it can be when a pattern just doesn’t seem to be working. Good luck.
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Fabulous hippo! I think a stripey one would look brilliant too!
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Thanks, I am excited about doing a stripey one too, just got a blanket to finish first.
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Oh I love Hilda!
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Thank you so much.
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She’s fabulous 🙂 Well done and I hope you have found your way back to regular blog posting and that 2015 is a much better year for you 🙂
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Thank you. I hope so too, I have missed you all and missed sharing what I am doing. I have still been crafting so have a little backlog to share over the next few weeks.
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Amigurumi is my nemesis 🙂
Thats your niche you are so good in this area
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What a lovely compliment, thank you. They are a challenge, getting the facial features right is the hardest part, sometimes they go easily into place other times I have to do it 3 or 4 times till I feel it looks right.
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exactly, it is an art for sure 🙂
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I love the hippo, that is just the cutest! And I think a crocheted scene would be a cute way to display them. Is there going to be a theme with the animals? Perhaps you could do crocheted palm trees instead of ropes?
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Palm trees. Mmmmm, you have set me a challenge there. It would look great though.
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So cute, I just bought Edwards Menagerie for inspiration. My mom just moved to assisted living and I thought I make some animals for her and her new friends.
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So pleased you have bought it and look forward to seeing your creations. I am sure your Mum and her new friends would love these cuties, a great ice breaker too.
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Fab!
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Thanks Claire. It’s nice to be back on the blog. 2014 was a difficult year and I just lost my way a bit at the end, hoping to be back on track again now though.
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It’s nice to have you back! There are always people whose blogs you like to read more than others and you miss them when they’re not around!
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Thank you so much, i hope you are relaxing and feeling better every day.
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I am relaxing. Don’t feel ill anymore just very tired. Thank you 🙂
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Pleased to hear it.
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Aw Hilda the hippo is gorgeous! I made a mini small crochet hippo but have never tried to make a bigger one. Think I’m going to add it to a list of projects to do when I find time!
As for displaying your creations, how about ladder shelving? x
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What a fab idea, we have some old wooden steps in the garage too. Thank you.
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Crochet a little scenery for them? And put that on an elevated spot (table or something similar)?
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Good idea, thanks. I bought the book at a show where they had loads of them all hung from a rope, that looked good too but I would like to do something original with my menagerie.
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