Meet my Menagerie: Francis the Hedgehog

Francis is a hedgehog very close to my heart. Truth known, all hedgehogs are pretty close to my heart. 

I am a life-long member of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society thanks to being a pretty gung-ho then year old that spent all her pocket money at once. I collected any kind of hedgehog toy, every craft I did from clay making through to baking was always hedgehog themed, and I built hedgehog hotels all over Toft and bought 'spike's dinner' in the hope that they would move in. 

That said, Francis did not make it into the first .pdf of patterns, and it is only in the paperback that he makes his debut. Perhaps that's because I suspected spines might be a bit tricky, perhaps it was waiting to make sure I was good enough with my hook to do it justice, or maybe I was just waiting for the right time. 

I find it quite hard to make to the patterns to order and the collection has grown far more organically than that. I usually cement my ideas on beginning to crochet the next animal as I am sewing up the last one. This is why the collection won't really stop here: Ed's animal club is where the very latest animals go, and the patterns and yarn are exclusive to my subscribers for a while. 

The 'meet my menagerie' campaign is a 50 day countdown to the official launch of my Edward's Menagerie book.  The Edward's Menagerie paperback can be ordered HERE.

Meet my Menagerie: Penelope the Bear

Penelope began her life as a reindeer. No world of lie, the brownbear that is now very popular was originally an ill-conceived first attempt at a reindeer pattern.  With two floppy antlers strapped to her head she lasted around 48hours before I cut them off, pulled back the nose back to the colour change and crocheted my first bear. 

Cutesy teddy bears aren't my thing, but this is a strong lady who likes to wear designer shoes. She is a character that I admire, and is one of many successful female characters in Edward's Menagerie. I'm not sure a brown bear would ever have landed in the collection if it wasn't for the happy mistake, and sometimes that's how the best ones come-about.

The 'meet my menagerie' campaign is a 50 day countdown to the official launch of my Edward's Menagerie book.  The Edward's Menagerie paperback can be ordered HERE.

Meet my Menagerie: Timmy the Jack Russell

Timmy is the kind of dog that fearlessly leaps into a dark caves. 

Here at Toft we lost our Jack Russell, Ace, in 2012 at a grand old age. Like Timmy he was an adventure dog who took himself off to wherever he fancied that day. The fifth time you had to apologise for him going through the cat flap and eating the neighbour's cat food it was reasonably easy to get angry with him, but he has high spirits and was a loving pet. 

Timmy is the only dog in Edward's Menagerie. Why?  I'll let you into a bit of a secret- there are a few other dog breeds out there, but they have been made as special gifts for my nearest and dearest. Every now and again it's an indulgent pleasure of mine to just whip an animal up without writing down the pattern. So they remain one of a kind characters like their owners. 

The 'meet my menagerie' campaign is a 50 day countdown to the official launch of my Edward's Menagerie book.  The Edward's Menagerie paperback can be ordered HERE.