Lalylala Paul...

If you crochet you can't have missed these. Lalylala. If you have, just google 'lalylala crochet' and you'll see what you've been missing. They've been around for nearly four years I think. That's before I learnt how to crochet and roughly how long it's taken me to convince myself I could make one!

Ella gave me the nudge. She spotted them whilst I was browsing for crochet patterns on the Internet and immediately requested a 'Paul the Mushroom'. I did protest that making a toy with a 2.5mm hook was a bit like eating baked beans with a cocktail stick but she reassured me I would be able to make it.

The pattern was emailed within 24 hours but the wool took a little longer to source. The suggested sock yarns are not easy to get hold of in the UK so I had to find a range of sock yarn or 4ply or anything requiring a 2.5mm hook with as many of the colours in the range as possible. I'm sure wool from different brands would work too, I just wanted to be sure it would all be the same guage. It's always tricky choosing colours from a screen and the brown is a lot lighter than I'd imagined and the green is more sagey than grassy but I think he'll look ok.

Even though E has chosen Paul and knows I'm making him, he will still be made in secret whilst she's at school and squirelled away for a special birthday present in December. He comes with both a mushroom hat and a toadstool hat. I'm glad she's chosen this one, he looks fairly straightforward, and the 2.5mm hook isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I quite like Kira and Lupo myself. There are a few finished ones on Etsy but they charge a small fortune for them, no doubt because they take a while to make. Just as well I've got a few months before her birthday then!