MY HOOKY TREASURE
Top soft toy designer Mariska Vos-Bolman tells us about her favourite little travelling companion, Koala.
My favourite crocheted item is my cute koala. I designed this pattern at the beginning of 2017. I take Koala with me to lots of places – to the zoo, to the park, on holidays. While we’re there, I take heaps of snaps – he’s the perfect model for fun and adorable photographs!
Koala was made with Schachenmayr Catania sport weight cotton yarn. He’s quite small so I can easily pop him into my bag and take him with me. I put photos on Instagram to show his journeys, and I’m getting a lot of positive responses. My family doesn’t mind waiting while I take photos of Koala in the wild, they even help find locations! We’ve put him in trees, on rocks, in Legoland, and more.
Koala is the most popular crochet pattern that I sell and I love seeing him turn up on Instagram, made by other people in different colours, sizes and even different outfits – like a pink dress!
It took me about a week to make Koala. First I made him without clothes, but it felt like something was missing, so I crocheted him a pair of little blue dungarees. That looked so much cuter!
Koala is an easy pattern – you only need to know a few stitches: single crochet, chain and slip stitch. The fuzzy inside of the ears is made by combing the cotton yarn with a dog brush. This technique works for most yarns. You just need to brush the yarn quite a lot to get the furry effect – try it out on a little test piece of crochet first.
Koala has many friends, like Joe the Elephant, Toto the Crocodile and many more. You can even mix and match the outfits for him and his companions.
His friends sometimes get to travel with him, but Koala is still my favourite and will be going to many more places with me in the future. Koala is available at Mariska’s online shops at www. diy u es.etsy.com, www.ravelry.com/designers/mariska-vos-bolman, and www.amigurumipatterns.net. See photos on Instagram @diy u es, and nd out more about Mariska at www.mariskavos.nl