Crochet Update: Dites Bonjour à François!

Here is my latest "I'm sick so I'm going to make an animal" animal :) His name is François!

He has a little bit of a story about him. I just really wanted to make an animal, so I started making the Frankie the Lobster pattern from FreshStitches that I picked up last weekend. I finished him in 2 nights and when I was done, my husband asked me what his name was going to be (he likes to laugh at my silly animal names hehe). At the time I didn't know his name yet, so I told him that the pattern was called Frankie the Lobster. Then he said, "You should call him François and give him a mustache!" Thinking this was a great idea, I decided to make him a beret as well to really put out the oh-so-French vibe :)

Doesn't his mustache give an air of distinction? It's pretty crazy the difference it made to him :)

I figured out the beret pattern on my own and just made it to until the size looked right. If you would like to make a beret of your own for your lobster (or other animal), I have written up the pattern here for you :)

Lobster Beret Pattern:

Round 1: Magic Ring and sc 6 into ring - pull tight.
Round 2: sc 2 into each stitch (12 sts)
Round 3: (sc 2 into first st and 1 into next st) repeat all the way around (18 sts)
Round 4: (sc 2 into first st and 1 into next 2 sts) repeat all the way around (24 sts)
Round 5: (sc 2 into first st and 1 into next 3 sts) repeat all the way around (30 sts)
Round 6: sc2tog all the way around (15 sts)
Round 7: sc in each st (15 sts)
Fasten off with long tail.
To make the point on the top of the beret: tie off you magic ring and then thread the yarn back up through the hole in the center (so it is visible on the outside of the hat). Cut yarn so that a piece sticks up off the beret - secure with fray check at the edge.
To attach beret: Use tail to sew beret onto animals head. Just catch 4 corners of sts on the hat so it's not attached all the way around. Hook yarn into body of animal underneath hat and tie with a double knot. Pull yarn out from under the beret (between the body and beret) - pull string tight and clip yarn (end should end up under the beret).

That's it! It was very easy. The mustache was way easier. I threaded an excess piece of black yarn on a darning needle, pulled the yarn through the upper middle point where I thought the mustache would look good, then tied a double knot. Next, I clipped the yarn evenly on each side to the length I wanted and secured the ends with fray check. I kept my mustache short so I could be sure it would not droop, but you can make it whatever length you like.

The only thing I dislike about François has entirely to do with my choice of materials. I used I Love This Cotton (100% cotton yarn from Hobby Lobby) for the body and I now know how unforgiving cotton yarn is on amigurumi. It would be fine if you never made any mistakes, but I make mistakes all the time and when you pull out the stitches to redo them, it seems the stitches stay pulled out so I can now see bigger holes and the stuffing shows through - a permanent reminder of my failings :( The other thing I don't like is the dang Eco-Friendly Fiber Fill from Joann's that I used to stuff him with. It's the same I used for Billy the Robin and hated then, but it was all I had on hand and I wanted to get him made up. Darn my impatience! Overall I think he's super cute and it's a great pattern.

So, if you want to make a lobster of your own, you can find the pattern in the Crochet Me 2012 Wall Calendar which is technically out of print, but they sell the digital pattern files without the calendar now :) Lucky for us!