#needleworkmonday Crochet Taxidermy - Animal Heads

Im a little work for NeedleworkMonday this week - Ive been busy trying to fill an order (its great to be able to say that :)!) and finally finished it last night.

I was going to save my Animal Heads work for when I had more items to show, but Im really proud of how they are coming together, and people seem to really like them! I managed to sell a Cow's Head to a local Tearoom, and so far have had 3 orders from it being on display, so very chuffed that people are seeing my work.

As you maybe know by now, Im a huge fan of Vanessa Mooncie's patterns. I was gifted the Animal Heads book for Xmas from my partner, and to be honest, it wasn't immediately my favourite. The patterns looked at first glance a bit long and boring, with complicated 'making up' sections. I ended up feeling guilty that I hadnt used the book yet, when it was a present, so I decided to try making the the Fox:

Doing this pattern made me realise that this book was way more awesome than I originally thought, and Ive been hooked (no pun) ever since!

My boyfriend is my muse and definitely the imagination in our relationship! He convinced me to do the Ram next, but to do the fleece part of the pattern in a rainbow theme. See below - I adored the finished thing, and was reluctant to give him up. He went and was pride of place displayed in the local yarn shop, so he done me proud :D

Most recently, I was inspired to attempt to create the Highland Cow (see top pic) - we are terribly Scottish after all :D. Mooncie's book has a pattern for a Bull, but the 'Heelan Coo' is different - check out these gloriously sweet beasts on Google - they fulfill the cute quota for the day!

I had to adjust quite a bit of the Bull pattern - I shortened the face, lengthened the horns and added the fabulous fleece, giving the Coo its signature floppy hair! Ive been using wiring for the first time in the cows horns, to give a little stability, and allow some gentle bending of the ends.

Tips for making Animal Heads:

• closely read the pattern and count stitches regularly - there are a lot of shaping areas etc that rely on even increases and accurate stitch numbers to sit right on the finished piece.
• the patterns suggest craft board for the backing piece - I used old cardboard packing boxes (doubled or tripled up) for the bigger pieces, while the smaller ones (Mouse!) can be finished with cereal boxes cut to size.
• a tight stitch works best for these, since there can be a lot of strain of the fabric in certain areas. I use a 4.5mm hook for most of my projects, and vary the yarn size. The Ram was either double strands of DK yarn, or Arran weight. The Coo was all done in Chunky yarn, all with the same hook size. This stops stuffing from poking through, and gives and nice dense coat on the fleecy heads.
• Making up the piece makes or breaks the whole thing. Take your time pinning eyes, ears, horns etc into place before sewing, and double check that everything lines up. I recently discovered that an ear two or three rows too low on one side, does indeed make the whole Cow look daft!

I have a lot more crochet work on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/KimmysCreations86 and would love for people to check it out if they have the time :)

Thanks and have a great week!