MFYBAL Week 3

Quick links: MFYBAL overview, weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

Welcome to Week 3 of the Monster Feet Yarn Bomb Along!

This week is the bulk of the pattern. We’ll connect the toes into one big round and do the Foot and Heel sections of the pattern.  Next week you’ll finish the Leg section.

Remember, it’s never too late to join in! Go at your own pace, fast or slow. All the resources will remain on the web! Each week is listed at the top and bottom of each post for quick reference.

Week 2 Recap

So how did crocheting your monster toes go? The #mfybal hashtag on Instagram is full of colorful toes! Some fun variations popped up: 3-toed feet and a jumbo pair made with a 9 mm hook. We loved seeing your creativity–keep the progress pics coming!

Make the Foot

You should have finished the last toe with the yarn still attached. If you cut it, just tie the end to the ball again, knots and all, because “it’s just a yarn bomb!” If you want to get fancy like in our video tutorial, here’s another good video showing how to join yarn with a slip stitch.

OK, let’s join the toes. The joining round turns four separate toe rounds into one big foot round by crocheting continuously from one toe to the next. No special tricks or techniques. Just keep going. This is a big secret behind most of our silly characters, and now it’s yours too! In crochet, the next stitch can really be made anywhere, giving rise to endless possibilities. Here’s a closeup of where to put the first hdc in the second toe.

Here are your toes all joined up along one side, then the other. Now you have one big round for the foot. Thing are literally taking shape now! Notice we tucked the toes’ starting tails in, but left the toes’ ending tails out.

Let’s talk for a sec about the bond a crocheter’s hands have with the work and hook. Death grip. Mind meld. It’s so easy to pick up your work and a hook. Letting them go? If you’re anything like us, you’ll go ten extra rounds and move some furniture to avoid interruption.

That said, if you want to sew the holes later, you can. Take it as a tip from having made these a million times: this is the simplest solution to these gaps. Also, the size and shape of the work are easiest to manipulate just past the joining row. If you wait til you’re done, you’ll be fiddling a lot more trying to get at the insides. If you think of an easy way to crochet them shut on the joining row, we’d love to know!

Since we covered decreases last week, you can now finish the Foot section of the pattern. Feel free to modify the pattern to get different foot shapes. You can play with how fast you decrease and how many rounds you do to get different angles and lengths. Everything up to the Heel section will stick out in front of the pole.

Heel

We usually get a lot of questions on the Heel section of the pattern. Be sure to watch this week’s video above, where we explain each step visually. We’ve also answered some great heel-related questions in the group forum with more photos and mock-ups. Like, Where is the second chain from the hook? And Is this right? What is going on here?

If you modified your feet, your foot round may have a different number of stitches. If so, make each flap half the round.

Now it’s time to use the distance around your pole. If you’re still undecided or can’t get to it, you can still continue. In this week’s video we explain how to guess and what to do if you end up making your flap longer or shorter than you needed.

Happy hooking!

Next week we rejoin the yarn and do the leg. After that it’s just appliqué and installing!

One thing to notice at the end of this week: How are you doing on yarn? If you are using a big pole like a tree or a tall leg like a bike rack, you might need another ball of yarn for next week. If you’re not sure, use the forums for help. Leave us a pic of your project, leftovers, and installation site and we’ll help you estimate your yarn needs.

xxxo,

Lorna & Jill

@KnitsForLife

Quick links: MFYBAL overview, weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.