Burupya/Mikage

[hooked_on_anime]

Okay, let's get this done! It's only, what. Five days after I'd said I'd have this up at a more coherent time? I'm totally more coherent now.

I also found Kero-chan's pattern, and now have multiple copies, so expect that up soon-ish!


This pattern uses a lot of double crochet, since it's on the "larger" scale of things, IMO. The first time I made him, I used Bernat Satin (Coral), and ended up needing to buy a second skein. The second time I used Simply Soft (Pink), and did not need to buy more. In fact, I ended up with a decent amount of extra.

The Simply Soft was slightly darker than the Bernat, but other than that, the only difference I noticed was in fuzzifying: the Simply Soft ended up still slightly curly, while the Bernat brushed out straight. I have to say that I prefer the end result of the Bernat in this case, but the Simply Soft was a better value. Edit: The crinkled effect from Simply Soft can be bypassed by taking yarn from the outside rather than the inside.

These are the only two yarns I've used while making this particular amigurumi; I always recommend you use the yarn you feel most comfortable with, but I thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences for those interested.

Example pictures of the finished product can be found here.

Things you need to know: Crocheting in the round (spiral), US stitch names, Single crochet (sc), Double crochet (dc), Triple crochet (trc), Slip stitch (sl st), Increasing (stitch 2 in 1), Decreasing (stitch 2 together or skip a stitch)

Anywho, the pattern!

Head/Body (make one for each): (These will probably end up slightly cylindrical. Don't worry about that. If they do, you can use it; if not, you're still golden.)
Row 1: Begin in a ring; sc 6
Row 2: Double crochet 12 (2 dc in each stitch)
Row 3: dc 24 (2 dc in each stitch)
Row 4: dc 36 (stitch 1, stitch 2 in 1)
Row 5: dc 48 (stitch 2, stitch 2 in 1)
Row 6 thru 12: dc 48
Row 13: dc 36 (stitch 1, stitch 2 together/skip 1 stitch)
Row 14: dc 24 (stitch 2 together each stitch/skip every other stitch)
Row 15: dc 12 (stitch 2 together each stitch/skip every other stitch)
Row 16: dc 6 (stitch 2 together each stitch/skip every other stitch)
Row 17: sc 3; finish

Front Legs (make two):
Row 1: Begin in a ring; sc 6
Row 2: dc 12 (2 dc in each stitch)
Row 3: dc 18 (stitch 1, stitch 2 in 1)
Row 4 thru 10: dc 18; finish

Rear Legs (make two):
Row 1: Begin in a ring; sc 6
Row 2: dc 12 (2 dc in each stitch)
Row 3: dc 18 (stitch 1, stitch 2 in 1)
Row 4 thru 7: dc 18
Row 8: dc 22 (dc 2 in 1 twice, dc 14, dc 2 in 1 twice)
Row 9: dc 26 (dc 2 in 1 twice, dc 18, dc 2 in 1 twice)
Row 10: dc 30 (dc 2 in 1 twice, dc 14, dc 2 in 1 twice)
Row 11: dc 15; finish

Horns (make two):
Row 1: Begin in a ring; sc 4
Row 2: sc 5 (sc 2 in 1 once; sc 3)
Row 3: sc 6 (sc 2 in 1 once; sc 4)
Row 4: sc 6; finish

Ears (make two):
Row 1: Begin in a ring; sc 4
Row 2: sc 6 (stitch 1, stitch 2 in 1)
Row 3: sc 6
Row 4: dc 7 (dc 2 in 1, dc 5)
Row 5: dc 8 (dc 2 in 1, dc 6)
Row 6: dc 9 (dc 2 in 1, dc 7)
Row 7: dc 10 (dc 2 in 1, dc 8)
Row 8: dc 10
Row 9: dc 9 (decrease 1, sc 7)
Row 10: dc 9
Row 11: dc 8 (decrease 1, sc 6)
Row 12: dc 8; finish

Tail:
Ch 19; make 20th stitch around yarn strips (at least 7, aprx 3"/7cm long)
Sl st 20
Sl st 20 again, up the other side; try and make another stitch around the yarn strips
Sl st 20 down the "middle"; finish

Wings (make two):
Row 1: ch 10
Row 2: dc 8
Row 3: dc 9 (dc 2 in 1, dc 7)
Row 4: dc 10 (dc 8, dc 2 in 1)
Row 5: dc 11 (dc 2 in 1, dc 9)
Row 6: dc 12 (dc 10, dc 2 in 1)
Row 7: feathers -
Feather 1: ch 6, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 1;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 2: ch 7, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 2;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 3: ch 8, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 3;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 4: ch 9, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 3, trc 1;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 5: ch 10, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 3, trc 2;
sl st 1 in main work; finish

The feathers in your wings will probably curl in one direction, either to the right or to the left, depending on which hand you use to crochet. If you are so inclined, you can either use wire to stiffen the feathers, or you can crochet one of them "backwards".

OPTIONAL: "Backwards" wing pattern (make one, make only one of previous):
Row 1: ch 10
Row 2: dc 8
Row 3: dc 9 (dc 7, dc 2 in 1)
Row 4: dc 10 (dc 2 in 1, dc 8)
Row 5: dc 11 (dc 9, dc 2 in 1)
Row 6: dc 12 (dc 2 in 1, dc 10)
Row 7: feathers -
Feather 1: ch 10, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 3, trc 2;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 2: ch 9, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 3, trc 1;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 3: ch 8, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 3;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 4: ch 7, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 2;
sl st 1 in main work
Feather 5: ch 6, sl st 1, sc 2, dc 1;
sl st 1 in main work; finish


Attachment
When attaching the head to the body, if they have turned out slightly cylindrical*, here is what you can do:
First decide which will be the head and which will be the body.
Take the one you've decided is the head, and position it so the "flat" faces are horizontal. If you don't like the look of one of the two faces (I frequently don't care as much for the "face" I decreased on), make that one the bottom.
Similarly, pick a top and a bottom for the body. In this case, the top face should be the one you like less.
Angle the body so the edge of the cylinder's top will meet the bottom of head, and attach together. You can make the attachment here more circular (in fact, I recommend it).

* If they didn't turn out cylindrical-ish, don't worry about the cylinder-related instructions, though the rest are still pretty relevant.

When attaching the wings, make sure the longest feather is at the top. Other than that, I recommend two things:
One, attach them so their bases resemble closed parentheses on either side of his back: ( )
Two, stitch the wing bases closely together with itself; if you've sewn cloth before, you may be familiar with this technique from making sleeves or ruffles: this has the same aim.
Between these two things, the wings should stand fairly well on their own, but you can also use wire or whatever else you care to if you want to make them stiffer.


Fuzz
Burupya has that nice ruff going on around his neck, and some on his head as well. Use some of your leftover yarn cut to about 3"/7cm for this; you can cut it down later, and that length makes it easier to attach the strands to him.

I've got some pictures on the "how to" of adding fuzz over in my Smudge the Fire Spider pattern.

For those who don't want to look at even crocheted spiders (though I have it on good authority that even arachnophobes can find this one cute), there's a lovely set of instructions on adding fringe over here. Just use one strand at a time, and populate a different area than described in the scarf tutorial.

Once you have a sufficient amount of yarn shag in, brush it out; I use a cat grooming brush because it's handy and I've found it works well, but a thickly bristled brush or a fine-toothed comb would probably work at least as well. You'll probably end up with as much yarn fluff on the brush as on the plush; don't worry, that's normal, and there should still be more than enough fiber to allow the right effect. You can use any extra fluff to stuff a future project, or whatever else you like.

When you've brushed out all your yarn, cut it to an appropriate length. I cut down the fuzz on his head to about .6"/1.5cm. The fuzz on his neck I mostly evened out. And that's all there is to it!


Happy stitching :)

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

what size crochet hook?

[hooked_on_anime]

Ack! How did that "what you need to know" get stuck in the middle of the ears! *edits*

I used size H/5mm on this (and most worsted weight yarn projects). I've been told I'm a "tight" crocheter, though, so if that size isn't getting you the result you wanted, you might try moving down a size or two.

[(Anonymous)]

thanks for the quick reply!
I'm using a 4mm hook so I was just wondering if it woul make a difference
I though I would never find a Mikage pattern!
You're a legend :3