Wednesday 4 December 2013

Hobby Horse

Think back to when you were little and you used to gallop around your house on a toy horse pretending that you were a cowboy/ girl. Well if you remember doing this, you were riding around on what is called a Hobby Horse.

One of our teachers, Lynn, got a hold of a Hobby Horse design and decided that she would love to make it.

The materials needed in order to make this Hobby Horse are:
* 2 skeins of Noro Transitions yarn (substitution: Noro Diamond Wadaiko, Noro Nadeshiko, or Noro Diamond Ordi)
* 4 buttons for harness
* fibre fill to stuff the head
* yarn needles
* crochet needle
* stick to mount the horse head on



Lynn started off by casting on at the end of her sock by where the stick will be mounted.



She then worked her way up to form the heel of her sock and then turned her stitching in order to make the head of the horse.



As Lynn was making her way up the sock, she decided that she would make the horse's ears two different colours because she wanted to have fun with Noro yarn.



Once her sock was made she stuffed half of her new sock with fibre fill and then mounted it onto her stick. Lynn fastened her sock onto the stick by drilling a hole through the stick, attaching the yarn underneath the horses ears and then criss-crossed  her yarn through it in order for the head to stay on and not flop all over. She stuffed the rest of her horse's head.



Now that Lynn's horse is made and mounted on the stick, its time for her to put the features on her horse. She then decided that she would make the mane. In order to attach the horses main, Lynn had to crochet the mane using the slip knot method.




The next thing that she did was start making the facial features. Lynn crocheted the eyes and nose of the horse. The mouth was created by sewing together the bound off edges.


 

Once the face and main body features were on her horse, it was time for Lynn to add the final finishing touches to her horse. She then decided that it was time to make the harness. The harness was half knit and the other half was braided for the bridal and reigns. She attached these pieces by sewing them on. Then Lynn, added a button on either side in order to make the reigns and bridal fit together better.




Lynn found her pattern on how to make this Hobby Horse on Ravelry. While browsing Ravelry, she found the exact pattern she wanted to work with by They Are All of Me. This website gives you a step by step in depth tutorial of how to make your Hobby Horse.