First, I want to state that I am not affiliated with KnottedFaux in any way. I purchased her Bat Crochet Pattern on Etsy and this is an honest review.
This isn't the first time I crocheted a pattern from this designer, though. I made her Guinea Pig Pattern last year, and enjoyed it thoroughly! Here's my Guinea Pig pattern review if you'd like to see how it looks and what I thought of it. and what I thought of it.
Now, getting back to the bat! I fell in love with this cute design the moment I saw it. I mean, who wouldn't -- he's such a fluffilicious little thing with his furry head and body, and that pointed little snout, too!
Amber did such a beautiful job designing this bat to look realistic. As a fellow designer, I'm really impressed with how she mixed two textures of yarn to create this stunning result!
Material Notes
Yarn
Part of what makes this bat look life-like is the yarn used. This pattern calls for Lion Brand's Go for Faux Yarn for the furry bits (the bat's head and body), and it's the most fluffilicious yarn I've ever felt!!
With many color choices, I ended up deciding to go with the "Blonde Elk" faux fur yarn color. Bats are generally quite dark in color, and a black and dark brown would appear a lot closer to the real-life animal, but I didn't have any colored eyes I could use to add to my bat and have the eyes "stand out". I only had black eyes, which would look very flat and difficult to spot out when attached to black yarn. Thus, I went with a lighter, almost silvery grey fur yarn, and used light grey medium weight yarn to go with it. My bat may not be hyper realistic with these color choices, but I think he's adorable nonetheless!
If working with fluffy, furry yarn is new to you, check out my Tips for Crocheting with Fluffy Yarn post for some good pointers, along with a video. If you'd like to learn more about Go for Faux yarn specifically, don't miss out on my Go for Faux Yarn Review post and video! (You can see all the great color selections to make your bat with!)
Yarn Needle
It was also helpful to use a darning needle with a latch hook eye to thread the furry yarn. It's so bulky, that it's very difficult to thread it through a regular yarn needle. For that reason, I got the special Clover Darning Needle with Latch Hook Eye and am so glad that I did, because it makes sewing with this bulky yarn a breeze!
My Modifications
I made a few small changes to my bat, which are outlined below.
Hook
Instead of a 3.5mm hook as the pattern suggested, I used a 3.25mm hook. I didn't have a 3.5mm on hand, and I wanted to make sure I crochet tightly enough for the faux fur portion, so I decided a ~slightly~ smaller hook wouldn't be a bad choice!
Eyes & Nose
One of the things I did was use a slightly smaller eye and nose size. The pattern called for 8mm eyes and a 10mm nose. I used 7mm eyes and a 9mm nose.
Wing Edging
When finishing the identical wings, I decided to crochet my edging for the second wing in the reverse direction. By doing so, I would have the "right side" of the edging stitches show up on the front. This way, there's a clear right wing and left wing to sew onto the bat. It's a small visual detail, but one that allows me to differentiate between the two wings.
Wing Attachment
When sewing the wings onto the bat, I sewed them close together in the back. I tend to sew wings to both sides of my amigurumi, but found that sewing them closer together allows them to fold around the bat's body in a nicer hugging shape!
So... here he is, in all his perfect glory, hugging himself with his little flappy wings!
I love making him hug stuff, including the skein of grey yarn that I used to crochet his face and wings...
I think he prefers hugging the faux fur yarn, though! Much softer and furrier! My guess is that he'll catch a quick nap on this skein... it must be awfully comfortable.
Video Review
You can watch my video review to see this little guy in motion! I also talk about my modifications, the yarn, and pattern review thoughts in it.
Overall Thoughts
Going back to Amber's pattern, I have to say that it's SUPER easy to follow and I couldn't believe that my bat took less than two hours to complete! I love that the written pattern has a lot of step-by-step photo references to help guide you throughout the crochet instructions. There are even tips included on how to work with the yarn, for attaching the nose, for the placement of the eyes and ears, and more! It's just such a well-written, detailed tutorial.
I'm so pleased with my finished bat, and will be making many more in the future! Because who needs an army of bats...? I know I do!
Once again, be sure to check out KnottedFaux's Bat Crochet Pattern in her Etsy shop to get your copy too!
Thanks for reading, and happy crocheting~
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