Head and Body: **Crochet around the wire **I like to keep my rounds in the center of his body (in this case, his underbelly) so in some areas, I added extra stitches to a round to keep the center consistent. There is a lot of room for flexibility so add stitches as you see fit -Magic ring: 6 -Sc, inc, sc 2, inc, sc (8) -Sc 2, inc, sc 2, inc, sc 2 (10) -Sc around (10) -Sc 3, inc, sc 2, inc, sc (12) -Sc around (12) -Sc 2, inc, sc 2, inc, sc 2, inc, sc 3 (15) -Sc around 2 times (15) -Sc 4, inc, sc 2, inc, sc 2, inc, sc 4 (18) -Sc 5, inc, sc 2, inc, sc 3, inc, sc 5 (21) -Sc around 3 times (21) -Sc, dec, sc 6, dec, sc 7, dec, sc (18) -Dec, sc 14, dec (16) -Sc around 2 times (16) -Inc, sc 4, dec, sc 2, dec, sc 4, inc (16) -Sc, inc, sc 3, dec, sc 2, dec, sc 3, inc, sc (16) -Sc 3, dec, sc 6, dec, sc 3 (14) -Sc around 32 times (14) -Sc about 6 more to get back to midline of underbelly -Sc 3, inc, sc 6, inc, sc 3 (16)
-Sc around 4 times (16) -Sc about 1 to get back to midline -Sc 4, inc, sc 6, inc, sc 4 (18) -Sc around 22 times (18) -Sc about 4 more to get back to midline -[Sc 5, inc] around (21) -Sc around 4 times (21) -[Sc 6, inc] around (24) -Sc around 58 times (24) -Sc about 7 more to get back to midline -[Sc 6, dec] around (21) -Sc around 9 times (21) -[Sc 5, dec] around (18) -Sc around 15 times (18) -Sc 1 more -[Sc 4, dec] around (15) -Sc around 7 times (15) -[Sc 3, dec] around (12) -Sc around 12 times (12) -[Sc 4, dec] around (10) -Sc around 5 times (10) -[Sc 3, dec] around (8) -[Sc 2, dec] around (6) -Sc around 6 times (6) -Sc 2, dec, sc 2 (5) -Sc around 3 times (5) -Sc 2, dec, sc (4) -FO ------Belly Strip: -Ch 3, turn -Sc 2, ch 1, turn -Repeat previous step 34 times -Sc, inc, sc (3), ch 1, turn -Sc 3, ch 1, turn -Repeat previous step 29 times -Sc, inc, sc 2 (4), ch 1, turn -Sc 4, ch 1, turn -Repeat previous step 39 times -Sc , dec, sc (3), ch 1, turn -Sc 3, ch 1, turn -Sc, dec (2) -Ch 1, sc all the way along the edges of the strip -FO -------
Legs: **Note: feet and legs are made in separate pieces and sewn together Front Legs: (need two ~5" wires) Pink: -Magic ring: 6 -Sc around 6 times (6) -[Sc 2, inc] around (8) Switch to white: -Sc around 5 times (8) -[Sc 3, inc] around (10) -Sc around (10) -[Sc 4, inc] around (12) -Sc around 3 times (12) -Wire exits in this row -Sc around 2 times (12) -FO Back Legs: Pink: (Need two ~ 6" wires) -Magic ring: 6 -Sc around 7 times (6) -[Sc 2, inc] around (8) Switch to white: -Sc aournd 5 times (8) -[Sc 3, inc] around (10) -Sc around (10) -[Sc 4, inc] around (12) -Sc around 4 times (12) -[Sc 5, inc] around (14) -Wire exits in this round -Sc around 4 times (14) -FO **The wire exiting the legs will be inserted directly into Haku's body before sewing his legs on. I ended up folding the wire for several reasons: to shorten/adjust the length as much as I needed, to hide sharp ends, as well as to make it a little sturdier. ------Ears: -Ch 4, turn -Sc, hdc, dc 2 in last st -FO -------
Feet: (the three front toes are made first, then the shorter, back toe) -Ch 5 -Sl st 4 -Ch 5 -Sl st 4 and into 1st ch -Ch 5 -Sl st 4 and into 1st ch -Ch 4 -Sl st 3 and into 1st ch -FO ------**Haku's horns are made of wire folded in half and wrapped with yarn, with more layers of yarn at the base of the horns. **Haku's whiskers are also made of wire wrapped with yarn. **Haku's mane is made of yarn that has been knotted on and brushed with a wire pet brush until fluffy
SilverTwilight05 Mar 23, 2013 Thank you, thicker wire really makes a difference in poseability, and I like to needlefelt faces to get more detail.
aphid777 Mar 24, 2013
Hobbyist Artisan Crafter
Awesome! Needle felting always seemed like a good idea. I just haven't been brave enough to try it yet for anything more than maybe a solid-colored nose or pupil. I'm too afraid of messing up but yours looks so good that I might have to give it a shot again!
SilverTwilight05 Mar 24, 2013 I find needlefelting to be rather forgiving (if sharp and painful when you miss). Details can be pushed back into shape, but only up to a point, if they are too dense it may be better just to rip it off and start again. Just remember that only animal fibers will felt, so you can't felt acrylic-acrylic, but wool- to pretty much anything else. So little! That's really impressive, what size hook did you use?
SilverTwilight05 Apr 1, 2013
I can't remember whether it was a 3.5 or 2.75, but he is pretty small, about 2 ft when stretched straight. The Shimmer yarn I used is pretty thin, so that probably contributed at least in part.
SilverTwilight05 Apr 3, 2013 Thank you for saying so. The whiskers are indeed wire-wrapped, I was just very careful when doing so. And I gained a new-found respect for asian dragons when I first watched the movie, I love how he flew like a ribbon in the wind. I was lucky that I discovered the thicker wire when I did, it's perfect for posing something like him.
bandotaku Apr 3, 2013
Hobbyist Traditional Artist
Wow, very careful. How do you wrap the ends and keep it from falling off the end? I need to get some thicker wire; it's nice for some things, but I used it recently in a large animal, about 11 inches tall, and it really could bend so much more.
SilverTwilight05 Apr 3, 2013 I used some tacky glue intermittently along the length of the wire, and a little more of it on the ends. It sticks pretty well, but I think fabric glue would probably work better.
