How to crochet your Alpacino

On today’s Saturday Stitches, we’re mixing things up a bit with an Alpacino takeover.

Many of you may have noticed that the gang recently welcomed a new furry friend to the fold. For those of you who missed this (have you been living under a rock?!), allow us to introduce Alpacino, the crochet alpaca of your dreams.

Alpachino_x1

Today, we will take you through a few tips, tricks and tutorials so that you can you can crochet up your cuddly companion in no time.

For those of you who are new to crochet, our introduction to crochet video is the perfect place to start getting to grips with the basics. Our Crochet: The Low Down blog post is also a great page for crocheters of all abilities for a memory refresh of the most common crochet techniques. For those of you who prefer live action tutorials, check out our crochet video page here.

The first technique we will run through is the magic loop. We use the magic loop technique in this pattern to create a neat and secure base for your Alpacino’s legs. Sometimes people are intimidated by this technique, but if you click the image below, or read on for our written instructions, you will soon see that it’s nothing to be frightened of!

Untitled-3

  1. 1 Hold the tail of your yarn in the palm of your left hand.

 

  1. 2 Form a ring by wrapping the yarn around your index and middle fingers. The working yarn is now on the right.

 

  1. 3 Hold the point where the loop overlaps.

 

  1. 4 Insert your crochet hook into the magic loop from front to back.

 

  1. 5 Loop the yarn around the groove of your hook and pull it through.

 

  1. 6 Make 1 chain stitch.

 

  1. 7 Insert your hook into the ring, loop the yarn and pull it through. There are now 2 loops on your crochet hook.

 

  1. 8 Loop the yarn and pull it through both loops – you have now made 1 single crochet stitch.

 

  1. 9 Simply keep repeating steps 7 and 8 until you have the number of stitches you need, and there you have it!

 

Another technique which may be unfamiliar to some is using a yarn marker. A yarn marker is a short length of yarn which you can use to mark the start of your round. Yarn markers are an easy alternative to counting stitches as you can simply crochet away until you reach your marker. We have used a yarn marker in this pattern to make it easier to crochet your Alpacino’s nose and ears in the right position, nobody wants a wonky alpaca!

Alpachino_x3

Now that we’ve got the technical skills covered, it’s time to think how you can make your cuddly guy really stand out from the crowd. Next week we will show you how you can add your own personal twist to your Alpacino, expect multi-coloured mohawks, pins and a whole lotta’ bling!

Click here to shop our Alpacinos

 

 

 

 

 

Submit a comment