FO Friday - Tree Frog

One of my super seekrit projects, unveiled now it is finally residing in it's proper home.

Project: Tree Frog for CJ

Pattern: Tree Frog by Brigitte Read (direct link here)

Yarn: Sirdar Simply Recycled DK (natural), Sirdar Calico (Orange), James C Brett Kool Kotton (green)

Hook: 2.5mm

Notes: Very few modifications to the pattern as written. Used a smaller hook to create a tighter, stiffer fabric, which worked really well. I pretty much followed the directions exactly for the head, body and legs, but made some changes for the feet and eyes.

Eyes: I didn't have orange animal eyes, so made do with 10mm black safety eyes. I chained six stitches and joined in a loop, then crocheted 8 sc into the ring. I then increased 2sc in each stitch for the second round (I think) before fastening off, and attaching to the head using the safety eyes through the small hole in the centre.

Feet: The pattern suggests crocheting the feet and the sucker pads separately, then sewing the pads onto the toes before attaching to the legs. I couldn't be bothered with all that extra sewing together, so made the feet by crocheting the chain, doing 5sc into the end chain, and slip stitching back down the chain, three times in total for each foot. The back feet are slightly longer than the front feet.

I also failed to consider leaving a length of pipe cleaner at the end of each foot to insert into the body to secure the legs more effectively, nor did I remember to attach the legs before I sewed the top and bottom half of the body together. It worked out alright, so I'm not really worried!

Overall, I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It was pretty fiddly, but I can't think of a way you could get the same end result without making all the constituent parts separately. And it was well received by my biologist friend, and looks awesome sitting on her bromeliad flower, which was kind of the point!

More FOs over at Tamis!