WIP Clanger (Free Pattern, unfinished)

Wow has this week been full on!

As I mentioned last week, I restarted uni so that’s been keeping me busy during the day (some days I’ve been up at 6:30am and not back home until 5pm). On top of that, I’ve been on stage this week in a local production of ‘Calendar Girls’ (unfortunately not as one of the girls who get their kit off, just as a bit part. Too young to be in the main cast – five years time I’ll be behind the buns if the chance arises!) so I’ve been out of the house from 7pm til 11pm with that. Now I’m not complaining, it’s been a fun week, but two hours at home doesn’t give you much time to do any crochet. I did try to do some on the train one morning, but I only had two journeys and it was a bit packed so I gave that up. Maybe next week it’ll be a quieter week and I can really focus in on some yarn crafting.

Anyway, enough waffle. This week I want to share my work-in-progress Clanger. I know I get a lot of US traffic and I don’t know if Clangers were big over there, but they’re essentially alien mice from a 70s (maybe 80s, maybe even 60s!) TV programme. Pink things with big snouty noses. They look like this:

There’s a local cancer charity called Yorkshire Cancer Research that use these guys as their mascot. My friend – a cancer survivor – linked me to them because they’re running a competition to knit or sew a Christmas Clanger. They even provide the knitting pattern. Now, I really want to enter because it looks like fun and all the work gets sold off to raise money and that’s pretty damned awesome, but I can’t yet knit. So I messaged them on Facebook and asked if I could crochet one. Luckily they said yes.

Then I hit a snag. There’re no patterns out there for crochet Clangers, and bugger me if I could work out how to make one! I wanted a fair size clanger, I was thinking maybe four or five inches tall, but could I heck as get it to look the right shape. I had this great ambitious plan for what I was going to make – I’ll not tell you just in case I get a flash of inspiration before the November deadline and go ahead and do it, then I can feature it over Christmas – but I’ve really lost my spirit because it just won’t work. I’ve ripped this damned thing up so many times! Here’s what I’ve finally ended up with:

(Ignore the fact she has hair and a white body, that was part of the clothing I wanted her to wear – imagine she’s pink and bald). It’s not a bad version, I do think it looks Clanger-ish, but she’s only two inches high and there’s just something wrong.

I’ve worked into her and made something I’d be ok entering, but I thought I’d give her a punt on the internet to see if anyone could tell me where I’m going wrong, or link me to an existing pattern that I haven’t found or a completely new one they don’t mind sharing.

My pattern is after the jump for those interested.

Body:

Round 1: 6sc into magic ring
Round 2: INC around [12]
Round 3:{1, INC} around [18]
Round 4: SC around [18]
Round 5:{2, INC} around [24]
Round 6: SC around [24]
Round 7:{3, INC} around [30]
Round 8: SC around [30]
Round 9:{4, INC} around [36]
Round 10: SC around [36]
Round 11: SC around [36]
Round 12: DEC around [18]
Round 13: SC around [18]
Round 14: SC around [18]
Round 15: {1, DEC} around [12]
Round 16: SC around [12]

Stuff

Round 17: DEC around [6]
Round 18: DEC around [3]

(Creates a sort of squashed skittle shape, working bottom upwards)

Nose:

Round 1: 6sc into magic ring
Round 2: {2sc, INC} around [8]
Round 3 – 5: SC around [8]
Round 6: {3sc, INC} around [10]
Round 7: {4sc, INC} around [12]

Finish off leaving long tail for sewing. Stuff and position in centre of face (top stub of the skittle).

Arms:

Round 1: 6sc into magic ring
Round 2: {2sc, INC} around [8]
Round 3: {2sc, DEC} around [6]
Round 4 – 7: Sc around [6]

Creates a long tube with a bulbed hand. Sew lines on the bulb to denote fingers. Make a thumb by:

Ch3
Row 1: 2Sc, sl st to finish.

Sew in place on the hand.

Legs:

Ch7, join in last stitch from hook using a sl st.
Round 1 – 2 Sc around using joined rounds.

Sew to bottom of body.

Make ears and feet out of pink/ black felt and sew/ glue gun in place.

Any edits gratefully received. Kudos to GeekGirlCrochet who has already tried to help me edit the pattern – it didn’t turn out how I wanted which I think is more a flaw with my initial base pattern than her edit. And it’s actually given me the starting point of a whole new creation – accidental crochet win there!