Toys from African motifs. MK on crocheting an elephant from motifs - presentation Crochet soft toy African flower

Well, the next event on joint crocheting a toy using “African flower” motifs is coming to an end. This time it’s an elephant))) an elephant with a flower... Based on the results of the event, a colorful tutorial on knitting an elephant from motifs was compiled.

I want to tell you a little about online. He turned out to be unusual))) It didn’t take long to hesitate and they overtook me!!! Can you imagine?!)))

The forward was Olga Toropchanina

She was the first to tie up her elephant... Here it is. A good half of the team rushed in the “footsteps” of Olya the Elephant. In addition, due to my carelessness, the girls received the wrong head diagram, but, oddly enough, it also turned out to be working... Therefore, the vast majority of participants have elephants that differ from mine in head (structure) and ears))) As a result, we have almost everything the elephants turned out different. And that is great!)))

Olga Minina's elephant. Olya gave her elephant eyes with eyelashes)))
Elephant by Olga Kashina. The handles of this toy are bolted. Olga kindly shared her knowledge on this mount. Read more in the article
Olga Solyarchuk's elephant. A toy with very cute and delicate colors.
Cute elephant Zoya Klimenko
Well, that’s it... I showed all the elephants tied up to this point, now about MK.

MK on knitting an elephant from motifs - presentation

This time the master class is also not ordinary, it is made like a magazine with pictures, i.e. under the slogan: “minimum text, maximum photo” Again I’ll tell you a story “from childhood”... I made a similar digression in the article)))

Once upon a time, a long time ago... back when the USSR was and not only was, but was a great power, beautiful glossy magazines “we could only dream of” (a completely figurative expression... no one, of course, dreamed of them, the Soviet people had other concerns ))) By the way, one of the concerns women of those times had was a problem with clothes, in the sense that everything in the stores was of excellent quality, but...

“gray and the same”, but, as you know, “don’t feed us bread”, but “give us” a “rag”, and one that others don’t have - that’s our nature and there’s nothing you can do about it)))

So, in those days there were two bright magazines - “Worker” and “Peasant Woman”, in which they published stories about different people and events, and also had a section for recipes and patterns... I was still very little then, but my mother wrote them out and even did something based on them. We kept a file of clippings of “handicraft articles” from these magazines for a long time. Oh, by the way, remember? I took this from that binder when my first daughter was born and it was 21 years ago... oh, horror!... and then I knitted them for all my children, my nephews, and my great-nephews... I just have to wait for my grandchildren)))

... back to the topic of magazines...

Somewhere in the mid-to-late 80s, a German magazine began to appear in our country, known to everyone under the name “BURDA Moden”. I won’t talk about the price and the possibilities of getting it in those days, but I’ll just say about its design...

Our “Peasant Woman” and “Working Woman,” sadly, could not be compared with this magazine... I watched it like a movie, read it like a favorite book, and very coolly illustrated.

I often watched it just to cheer myself up, to dream, to fantasize….

Did I do anything according to the descriptions? YES! I even sewed, although I told you more than once that I don’t know how to sew and don’t like it... Did I succeed? YES!

Do you know why?)))

(without praise to the design developments of the patterns of this magazine in those days, although they are undoubtedly at the highest level and deserve all praise)

The fact is that every woman knows how to sew, we were taught this at school, as well as many were taught to knit... Whether she WANTS or DOESN’T WANT is another matter. But this very magazine, with its simple cut, but nevertheless spectacular bright models demonstrated by smiling happy girls, and a huge amount of “happiness on the pages”, simply inspired me: “how beautiful!”, “You need this!” , “you can do it!”, “everything will work out!”... and it could, and it did))) and, I believe that this, to a large extent, is the merit of the design of the magazine, which gave incentive, impulse, idea, desire....

... and I wanted to make my master class so that it was not only useful, but also beautiful, so that whoever receives or purchases it would not only understand how and what to do, but also simply enjoy looking at the beautiful pictures ... Watch, cheer yourself up, dream, invent and do with full confidence that everything will work out... because it’s “beautiful”, “I want”, “I can”, “it will work out”

Whether I succeeded in this is for you to evaluate, my dear friends)))
The tutorial on knitting an elephant from motifs contains 44 pages of photographs of the process + diagrams of the layout of parts + descriptions of knitting motifs (and patterns too))) + color options for motifs + brief (only the gist) text accompaniment of photos and diagrams.

My friends, I want to introduce you to the work of a wonderful author, master... Natalia Mokrushina))) At first I wanted to write an article myself and talk about Natasha’s toys, but after thinking a little, I realized that the author himself can best tell about his creations...

Therefore, the entire article is from Natalia’s words))) On my own behalf, I will only add that these are all Natasha’s original developments. The toys are knitted based on the “African flower” motif, but not in its classic form. The motifs have been reworked, which allowed the author to achieve natural (anatomical) similarity with the originals from living fauna)))

toys from African motifs

Natasha makes excellent descriptions of her works and sells them for very nominal money in her shop at the Crafts Fair and invites everyone to visit her store. Even if you don’t buy anything, believe that there is something to see and be inspired by)))

1. Turtle from motifs
“I came up with this tortilla and contacted me:
The individual is very active - she always wants to go for a walk, leave the house, and stretch her bones. Due to constant attacks from the house, he often cannot remember where the entrance is, where the exit to his home is and therefore enters the house either from the front entrance or from the courtyard. It turns out the same way later. It turns out great! :-D But the good thing is that it’s not fatal, because... the house, whatever one may say, is the same in the front and in the back) I wanted to give it a name, of course, Turtle-Tortilla, well, in order not to deviate from the appearance of its affiliation - it must definitely be some kind of Tortilla. And since this is our overseas exoticism, we made the following decision at the family council... - to make him an overseas Tortilio, with the same overseas, but surname that speaks about him - DomaNeusyadisimo, because... He always goes somewhere for a walk)
And a completely Russified look over time becomes Domaneusya Dimych, but in early childhood, by Russian standards, he will simply be Domaneusya Dimych!:-D
And if the inhabitant is made inseparable from his house, then he becomes Domanevylasio or, in simpler terms, but for some reason a more complex design Iz-Domanevylasio))
Such incredible transformations can happen with just one turtle, if it falls into the hands..... well, in general, it doesn’t really matter into whose hands it fell, but the main thing is that!...
In truth, this world is too sophisticated and mysterious!) A... n)"

Many people have probably heard about crocheting toys from African Flower motifs. Such toys amaze with their beauty, sophistication, riot of colors and originality. They charge you with positivity and give you a joyful good mood. If you know how to crochet and have suitable yarn of different colors, we strongly recommend that you knit such a toy.

We invite you to crochet such a wonderful horse.

The horse is knitted from individual motifs. In total it will be necessary to connect 42 motifs:

• triangle - 1 piece,
• quadrangle - 3 pieces,
• pentagon - 19 pieces,
• hexagon - 15 pieces + 2 pieces for ears,
• heptagon - 2 pieces.

To knit a horse we will need the following materials:

• Multi-colored bright yarn. In the master class, the horse was knitted from Iris yarn.
• Yarn for mane and tail.
• Hook No. 1.5 (or another corresponding to the yarn you have chosen).
• Filler for a toy (For example, padding polyester or sliver).
• Scissors.
• Needle for stitching parts.
• Sheet of cardboard.

Let's start knitting a hexagonal motif. We will knit according to the pattern:

This motif is called “African Flower”. It is very often used for knitting blankets, shawls and even bags, and also knits funny toys.

So, let's start knitting.

We collect 5 air loops and close them into a ring. Let's start knitting first row: two air loops for lifting, double crochet, air loop. Next we repeat *double double crochet, chain stitch* - 5 times.

Take yarn of a different color.

Second row: again we knit two air loops of lifting, then into the hole formed by the air loop of the previous row, we knit a double crochet, an air loop, two double crochets. Repeat *two double crochets, chain stitch, two double crochets* into the hole formed by the chain stitch of the previous row - 5 times.

To knit the next row, you can change the color of the yarn again, or you can continue knitting the same.

Third row: using half-columns, make your way to the hole that was formed by the air loop of the previous row (between two double crochets). We knit two chain stitches for lifting and 6 double crochets. Repeat *7 double crochets* - 5 times.

Change the color of the yarn. It is better if it is yarn in a contrasting color.

Fourth row:*7 single crochet, double crochet* - repeat 6 times.

Change the color of the yarn again and tie the flower with double crochets.

The last row is single crochet with white yarn:

The remaining motifs are knitted similarly. Here is another knitting pattern for a pentagonal motif:

So, we should have 42 motifs.

Now let's start assembling. There are several ways to assemble things connected from individual motifs.

In this master class, the parts are sewn together, but you can choose the method of joining the parts that you prefer.

Let's start assembling the horse from the muzzle. Take the following parts: 1 triangular motif and 3 pentagonal ones.

We sew them together as shown in the photo:

Now we take 3 more pentagons.

We sew them to the muzzle.

Let's take another pentagonal motif:

Sew it to the back of the head.

We sew two hexagons - on one side and on the other. This will be the horse's neck.

We continue to connect the parts. The diagram shows how to do this. In those places where the number “4” is located we place quadrangles.

Now we will assemble the legs separately, and then attach them to the body of the horse.

For each leg we will need the following motifs:

We sew the motifs together. The leg is ready.

The African flower motif is very popular when crocheting soft toys. Such motifs are triangular, four-, five-, six-, seven- and octagonal. The principle of their knitting is the same. And with imagination, you can come up with numerous options for combining motifs into figures of horses, steeds, hippos, frogs, dogs, and dinosaurs. They also knit more prosaic things - handbags, blankets, pillows.

In this MK I will give a description and diagrams of a quadrangle and a pentagon. Polygons are knitted according to the pentagon principle, but I don’t have a good pattern for a triangle. All the diagrams that I tried to take from the network turned out to be so clumsy that it’s a shame to share them. If you have a good proven pattern of a triangular African flower motif, I would be glad if you share it in the comments to this article.

If you read this article to the end, at the end you will find a link to MK’s video on how to assemble such a cute elephant from motifs.

Let me make a reservation right away: the double crochets (dc) at the beginning of the row in the diagram are replaced by a chain of chain stitches (ch), but I knit a single crochet right away (I plan to post a MK on the intricacies of crochet in the future). You should also be able to make connecting stitches (s.s.) and single crochets (s.b.n.)

To work you will need:

• hook;
• threads of suitable thickness, 2-4 compatible colors (I have white, light blue and dark blue);
• scissors.

How to knit a pentagonal African flower motif:

Row 2: (2 dc, 1 ch) * 5 times, change the color of the yarn to blue, dc. at the end of the row.

3rd row: (In the ch we knit 2 double stitches, 1 double stitch, 2 double stitches) * 5 times, s.s. at the end of the row.

4th row: (In the vp we knit 7 stitches. s1n.) * 5 times, change the thread to white, s.s. at the end of the row.

5th row: We knit st.b.n. in each article s1n. previous row and long st.b.n. in the third row between the scallops, change the thread to blue and make s.s. at the end of the row.

6th row: 3dc.s1n., st.s1n. + v.p. + st.s1n. in one column of the previous row (in the middle of the scallop), 4 tbsp. (3 along the scallop and one between the scallops in an elongated column). Repeat 5 times. In total, each side will consist of 9 stitches. and they will be separated v.p. S.s. at the end of the row, make a knot, cut the thread, leaving a tail.

How to knit a square African flower motif:

1st row: We begin knitting with white threads. A chain of 5 ch. combine into a ring.

Row 2: (3 dc, 1 ch) * 4 times, change the color of the yarn to blue, dc. at the end of the row.

3rd row: (In VP we knit 7 treble s1n.) * 4 times, change the thread to white, s.s. at the end of the row.

4th row: We knit st.b.n. in each article s1n. previous row and long st.b.n. in the second row between the scallops, change the thread to blue and make s.s. at the end of the row.

5th row: 3dc.s1n., dc.s1n. + v.p. + st.s1n. in one column of the previous row (in the middle of the scallop), 4 tbsp. (3 along the scallop and one between the scallops in an elongated column). Repeat 5 times. In total, each side will consist of 9 stitches. and they will be separated v.p. S.s. at the end of the row, make a knot, cut the thread, leaving a tail.

Shared master class

Anastasia Kononenko

Description is available in Russian and English.

I present to you a master class on a toy made from motifs in Russian and English.
“African Baby-Dil” Difficulty level - High.

You can dispose of the toy made according to this description at your discretion, it is made from your materials, purchased with your money and created by your own labor, I believe that I have no right to dispose of your property. My intellectual property is a description of the process of creating this toy, provided to the buyer “in one hand” and is not subject to distribution by the buyer in any form to other persons.

This Master Class consists of 30 pages in pdf format. Contains a detailed description of the process of making a toy from polyhedral/polygonal knitted motifs, with step-by-step photographs, assembling parts and designing the toy.

The dimensions of the toy vary depending on the thickness of the yarn you selected and the size of the hook corresponding to the selected yarn.

Dimensions:
from the nose to the tip of the curved tail - 39 cm. Height - 12.5 cm. Leg span - 1/2))

PS - two videos - how to do without a chain of ch for lifting at the beginning of a row, which is almost always visible, and immediately knit a “tricky double crochet” (optional)

It describes the process of creating the African Flower toy/item by crocheting and constructing polygonal motifs in details. There are not only step by step photos, charts and schemes of constructing the motifs/parts to make the item but also its decoration.
Skill Level is advanced.

The PDF file is of 30 pages.

Finished Cro size:
length - 39 cm - from nose point to curved tail tip.
height - 12.5 cm
legs spread - 16cm

It’s better to use thin yarn and make it double strand or you may also separate your thick yarn to two plies when it is needed ;)

• Here are two videos about ”Chainless starting dc in the round” they may be helpful for you while working the item ;)

I want to say many Thanks to Judy for her help with editing the English pattern (her profile is http://www.ravelry.com/people/muffetsmom)

No refund - after you confirm to “buy” the pattern, there is no refund.

Let me show off my crocodile tied by Natasha's MK (Nnattali).

The bottom of the nesting doll. The green circle is the size of the cardboard insert for rigidity. A double-headed arrow shows which faces to connect.

For a matryoshka doll you need 24 hexagons, including one - a face, 2 heptagons, 6 pentagons and 8 triangles. I will say right away that I did not knit the matryoshka doll myself, all the information is from photographs of the Red Cat. I only made a visual diagram of the bottom and sides, since the author refused to show her diagram. It seems to me that the classic African triangle will not work here, it is too convex, but it should be flat.

Muzzle:
0 row - amigurumi ring




then, similarly, in each row we add 8 loops until there are 88 loops in the circle
after that, evenly divide the circle into 4 segments (each should have 22 loops) and decrease in each row in three segments out of four (later this will be like the back of the head)
reduce until the head reaches the size you need; in my case it is approximately 18 cm from the zero row.
Legs:
1st row - 8 half-columns in a ring
2nd row - 2 half-columns in each loop (total 16 loops)
3rd row - in the loop of the previous row we knit 2 half-stitches, in the next 1 half-stitch, repeat 7 more times (total 24 loops)
4th row - we knit 2 half-columns into the loop of the previous row, one half-column into the next 2 loops, repeat 7 times (total 32 loops)
we make increases until the number of loops reaches 56 loops, then we divide the circle into 4 segments and decrease 1 loop in each segment, I decreased to 20 loops.