My latest endeavor is for a little girl whom I love just as much as my own. She is my daughter's best friend, and they have literally known each other since she was taking her first steps, and my daughter was in my womb. They love each other unconditionally, just as sisters or cousins. This little friend of ours loves all things pink and dinosaurs. I happen to have had a dinosaur pattern sitting in my Ravelry queue for years. I decided to make it for her, because I realized I had never made anything for her before. My daughter, of course, was super jealous, claiming that I "never make anything for [her]," despite the fact at least half of my projects are dedicated to her, including the "owlghan" I recently completed. She's very dramatic and distraught that she will not be receiving anything from me for the next month and a half until Christmas is here. Life is so hard at the ripe old age of four.
This pattern was super easy. It's called "Dudley the Dinosaur" and was written by Maureen Hartog. It is offered as a free Ravelry download, and can be found here, if you have an account. If you don't have an account, what's wrong with you? Please go make one. There are so many fabulous patterns for free and for purchase on this site.
I made Dina with Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn!" in Pink, and some Red Heart white & silver Christmas yarn. Both are worsted weight yarns. I used a size G/6-4.25mm hook.
A few discrepancies I had with making the pattern were with the neck and the legs. I didn't want to sew up the side of the neck, and so I just crocheted in rounds. I also didn't like having the legs be different lengths, and so all four of them have ten rounds, instead of two of them having ten rounds, and the other two having twelve. Speaking of, the pattern is worked in rounds, not rows. The pattern is still very straight-forward, and easy enough to follow, especially for beginners. I'm beginning to notice that, as in writing literature, every pattern author has a voice of their own, and their own way of explaining things. If you do decided to make a Dudley the Dinosaur (or Dina), please take a few moments to read over the pattern first. Ms. Hartog's increases and decreases are described in a way I have not encountered before. It was not difficult to catch on to her language at all. It just caught me off guard, because I did not read the pattern before making it. D'oh!
Another thing I did differently than Ms. Hartog, is that I used buttons for eyes on Dina instead of googly eyes, since the buttons can stand up to more play. To accomplish this, I sewed on the button eyes before I began any decreases in the head; round 14, to be exact. Should you choose to follow in my stead, you definitely want to sew them on before you add any sort of stuffing, as the filler could be difficult to maneuver a needle around.
Just for kicks and giggles, I made her a little bow that can be removed. It's just a few rows of 3 sc attached to a chain of 28.
Overall, I give the pattern a 14/16, according to my rubric for reviewing patterns. I haven't found any other sources for the pattern besides Ravelry, which admittedly is an excellent source, still doesn't provide much accessibility for the pattern. There were no other discrepancies with the pattern besides those mentioned above and the accessibility of the pattern.
Here's a photo of Dina the Dino! Happy Stitching! xo
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