FO Friday: Zeg Hallo Tegen Soepkip!

Did my Dutch title weird you out a little? :)

That's right - I have another for you today! This project is absolutely the fault of Natasja from My Crochet Plush. Back in April, she made this pattern and it was the first I'd ever heard of such a character. The pattern is from the book Prettig Gestoorde Amigurumi (this translates to something like Nicely Strange Amigurumi - Dutch folk, help me out?) by Dennis van den Brink (a.k.a. DenDennis). The book is full of really cute and different amigurumi patterns, but this one won my heart immediately. Meet Soepkip!

Can you tell why I loved this little lady? I mean, come on, it's a chicken attached to a bowl - what's not to love? The story behind Soepkip (which translates as Chicken Soup) is that she hatched in a soup bowl and she ended up growing into the bowl; in spite of attempts by veterinarians, she is permanently attached to her bowl. Oh, and apparently she's afraid of ladles, lol. From what I understand, most Dutch people would understand this pairing without explanation.

So how did I, an American who does not speak any Dutch whatsoever, make this pattern? Google Translate, baby :) I did a quick search online to find Dutch to English crochet terms (seriously, there are a zillion lists out there - just pick one and go with it), plugged those into the basic instructions (ex. sc 1, etc.), then used Google Translate on any full paragraphs of instructions. I guess I should say that I got the book online as well - having the pattern is a little important in this equation, huh? For my translation, I photocopied the pages I needed and then sat at my desk to translate. It looked like this:

I Instagrammed this photo Saturday night. See my list of Dutch to English terms to the top left? It was pretty easy to just plug in those words and write the translation to the side on the photocopy. The only area I messed up was with the counting. In an English pattern, it would usually say, "sc2tog, sc 3*, repeat 6 times (30 stitches)," but the Dutch patterns say something like, "decrease every 8th and 9th stitch (64 stitches)." I'm not sure if it would make sense unless you were me, lol, but I accidentally thought that 8e&9e meant, "decrease, sc 8," which didn't add up. It ended up being that I was 1 number off pretty much the whole way. Once I figured this out, it was a breeze to just sc1 instead of 2, etc, and I didn't have to re-write anything. Obviously it worked since I have my own Soepkip now :)

The only small issue I had was that the book only shows 2 pictures of Soepkip, one from the front and one from the front/side. This meant that I couldn't see where the tail was attached at all, so I just guessed and went for it. Also, the pattern tells you to make the body/bowl first, close it off completely, then attach the other pieces as you make them. Personally, I prefer to tie my pieces on the inside to avoid any visible knots, so I made the body up to a certain point (leaving a decent size opening), made/sewed on all the other pieces, then picked up where I left of in the pattern to finish the body.

I took lots of detail shots to help anyone in the future who decides to make this pattern :) I took the suggestion of the pattern and added pip cleaners to her legs - they aren't absolutely necessary, but it keeps her legs straight like real chicken legs. I totally love the claw-like feet!

I used the exact colors suggested in the pattern, but I did size up on my yarn (the pattern calls for Phildar Coton 3 which is sport weight, I used worsted weight) and I used a larger size H hook to accomodate my bigger yarn. The yarns were all from my stash and I used: Vanna's Choice in White and Scarlet, Red Heart With Love in Daffodil, Red Heart Soft in Off White, and two unknown acrylic thrift store yarns in green and orange.I also used 12 mm eyes (again, bigger than the pattern calls for since I used bigger yarn).

I totally love how cute this came out! Soepkip (whom I lovingly refer to as Soup Cup, lol) will be a nice addition to my crazy animal collection. She was a smidge more work to make, but it really wasn't hard at all and she was so worth it! She will definitely not be my last Dutch pattern - do yourself a favor and look up Dutch Amigurumi patterns, they have some incredibly cute designs :)

And thanks Natasja for making this pattern and exposing me to it :)