Red Eyed Frogs - crochet rugalugs motif square

When I was a kid frogs used to be everywhere. I remember we had a creek and a dam down the back paddock and there would always be tadpoles swimming about. I haven't seen a frog for a while now, and even the cane toads seem to be diminishing in numbers.

I can think of 3 reasons for this -firstly the drought which we are in, and secondly the loss of our forests, and thirdly I haven't been up to the rainforest for a while!

I have been thinking about frogs for a while and wasn't sure how to tackle them in crochet. I decided that the red eyed frog was the perfect model. This little guy lives high in our rain forest trees and is nocturnal. The red eyed frog is also called the southern orange eye frog, or the red eyed green tree frog. They live in the rainforest's of Queensland and Northern New South Wales, along the eastern side of Australia. They have the most amazing eyes which vary from reds through to oranges. This is a pretty frog and there is a similar bloke who lives in the rain forest in South America. They are front page material for National Geographic and the like as they are very photogenic. Amphibians are a very important part of our eco system and we need to preserve them. I would like to think that my grand kids will be able to experience frogs.

Once I got the idea of what I was doing, I was on a roll. I now am kneedeap in froggy motifs! Different colours, different eyes, but full of froggy goodness.

Not an easy task getting then to sit in a square, but I reckon they look as though they have just landed on the rug!

I then started making a few hats. I was thinking about walking in the rain forest, and a green tree frog or red eyed frog landed splat on your head. The image amuses me as I am always a bit jumpy when I walk through the bush. There are so many creepy crawlies who knows what you encounter.

I am enjoying these and they are a bit cheeky. Perfect for boys, who are usually hard to crochet for. I am trying to destash and don't have the energy for any more larger projects so these beanies are the way to go. The gaudy colours seem to work well. Each hat takes me a few hows to do, but they give me a smile when I finish.

My rugalug fun motifs fro kids series is growing. I now have ducklings, koalas, penguins, kangaroos and frogs. I have a few more in the pipeline and then I have run out of ideas until something inspires me. The weather is still hot so these squares are quick projects to keep me busy.

Thanks for looking, and remember all the copyright stuff. I try and be as original as possible with my designs.

True Blue Kangaroo

Meet True Blue Kangaroo. I have had a ball of 12 ply Magnum beating around the cupboard for a while and I decided to make a larger version of the Wallaby Joeys that I posted recently.

This guy is the true patriot with the flag and all. I worked True Blue up over the Australia Day weekend.

There is more to True Blue though than a ball of yarn; as there is a more meaningful yarn to be told.

The movie "The Shiralee" was released in 1957. This one starred Peter Finch and was based on the book written by Darcy Niland. the story is about a man whose wife leaves him and their child. I recently saw "In the Pursuit of Happyness" and the basic theme is very similar. A father trying very hard to raise a child and make a living through times of bad luck and hardship. The "Pursuit of Happyness" is a great movie, but I would argue that the original 1957 "The Shiralee" is pretty good viewing as well. Hard to imagine this is 50 years old now, yet the story still strikes a chord.

The word "Shiralee" means burden, and his daughter Buster is Macauly's burden as he swags across Australia trying to find work. The movie was remade in the late 80s and this time had Brian Brown as Macauly. Brown always plays a stereotypical ocker Australian.

The significance of this to the kangaroo is that in the movie the little girl Buster - has one toy, a rough looking kangaroo that she names "Gooby". Mcauley drags Buster with him as he seeks work, and Buster drags Gooby along.

I have searched on the net and I cant find much about Gooby.

When I was a child an uncle gave me a stuffed kangaroo and I called him "Gooby". Gooby was very special. My Uncle died soon after in a car accident and I can remember the distress in my family at the time. Gooby was my childhood cuddly. Kangaroo cuddlies are great as you can lovingly strangle them by the neck, drag them around by the tail or the ear. I don't know what ever happened to my Gooby, but I can remember the smell. It was made of real kangaroo pelt. Something that we would never do now! I remember the bare patches where the fur had rubbed off over the years. I hadn't though about this much until recently.

So here I am now, many years later trying to reconstruct a Gooby in crochet. So I called this one True Blue Kangaroo cos she is True Blue with a story to tell.

I am going to make some more for the school fete later in the year. I will make some male roos as well although having a pouch does come in handy. Did you know that only the female roo has a pouch? The males done need one as they don't have a joey to carry around.

Just a bit of trivia for you.

Thanks for looking and reading my story.

As usual, these images are protected by copyright. You may link to this page, but you may not save or transmit my photos.

Australia Day January 26, long live the kangaroos!

Today is Australia Day.

It was hot and sticky and we enjoyed a barby by the pool. The boys spent the day watching the Aussies beat the Poms in the Australia Day test. I reckon the balmy army have probably had enough of Australia by now!

I learnt today that Woolworths makes burgers in the shape of Australia so we enjoyed some of them, with some Portuguese chicken, french lamb cutlets, wombok salad, bruchetta, turkish bread and a glass of Queen Elizabeth Chardonnay. Made us realise how multicultural our food has become. When I was a kid a barby was snags and rissoles, burnt onions, a splurt of tomato sauce all stuck in a bun.

I had a personal goal of having my crochet kangaroos completed for today. This is the next square in my rugalugs series. I like how the nose is sculptured and the ears stick out.

I figured crochetroo designs from Australia should have a roo or two in the collection (lol)

Having said this, they are not an easy animal to capture in crochet. The first few versions looked like a drunk rat, then they looked like a cat on speed, and a few I wasn't sure what they looked like. Some feral mutant animal that was trying to look cheesy.


When I finally had it figured out ,I had fun making a little kangaroo carry pouch. I reckon these would make a sweet gift with the little wallaby.

My Aussie animals collection is growing and I decided I would sell a few as a package on etsy. I seem to have some repeat customers so thought it worth a go.

At the moment I am deciding what to do next. The Tasmanian devil beckons, but he is such an ugly and nasty little bugger. And it is a pity that the Tasmanian Tiger is extinct. One of those sad things that happened with European settlement of Australia.

I read today that the sound of the Tassie devil is ranked as one of the worst in the world. Came in at number 11.

I find this odd: firstly because the devil is only found in Tasmania, and b) even in Tasmania they are pretty hard to find. So where are all these people voting on annoying noises? Well the research was done over the Internet. Fortunately most people will never get to hear the annoying noise of the devil, so it interests me they were in the line up. My pick for annoying noises would have included a few relatives, the dog down the back and a dripping tap. Having seen and heard the devil in the real when I was in Tasmania a few years back, I reckon they would also rank high as one of the worlds fugliest animals. Here is the link if you are interested.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1834540.htm

As for my crochet habit, then there are possums, and bilbies, and numbats, and of course I haven't even started on the birds....

I could be doing these critters well into my golden years!

I hope you all had a great day! Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi!

Wallaby Joey crochet toy

Meet the Wallaby joey mob! It has taken me a while to perfect these little fellows.

I feel like a nag for saying this, but the images and design ideas are copyright (c)2007 crochetroo. Please don't steal them or you will suffer the curse of the great kangaroo!

I have seen crochet kangaroos around but somehow they never seem to give the nature of the creature. I realised it is all in the ears, the feet and the playful approach. Wallabies are part of the macropod family which includes kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, pademelons and a few other marsupials. Macropod means "large foot", so I realised any crochet version would have to have the large feet. The legs took me a while to work out, and in the end I decided to just go with the foot, and imagine the rest of the leg.



The kangaroo is one of the icons of Australia. It is on our coat of arms, and is the name sake of numerous Aussie sports teams. The Wallabies are a force to be reckoned with! It is also my name sake crochetroo. Maybe I should change my avatar!


There are currently 53 species of kangaroos in Australia with a number on the endangered species list. Since European settlement 6 species of Macropod are now extinct.


I say this because January 26 is Australia day which is the anniversary of Captain Arthur Phillip and the first fleet arriving at Sydney Cove. While we celebrate our Australian heritage on this day, which is marked by a public holiday and National celebrations, the joy is not shared by all.



While European settlement developed our country in a global sense, the impact on the Indigenous people and our wildlife was significant.

The kangaroo poses a number of threats. Much of the land has been developed for farming. Bush fires and development destroy native bushland. Introduced animals such as dogs, cats, rabbits, sheep, cattle not only compete for food, but brought disease with them.

So this little wallaby joey is symbolic of our heritage. She also carries a boomerang in her pouch. What else would a little joey have to play with? It is the pouch that makes the wallaby and kangaroo a marsupial. Carrying the baby in the pouch gives the Joey a greater chance of survival. Did you know that males move away after about two years, but females stay with their mothers longer?

These little guys play in a mob so I made a few. Red kangaroos are found on the flat open plains, grey kangaroos prefer denser bush, and Rock-wallabies live among piles of boulders, rocky hills and cliffs.

I don't see many kangaroos and wallabies around the suburbs, but I have seen them in the early morning grazing in the paddocks down by the train station. Currumbin sanctuary has the best display in a natural habitat and whenever we have guests from overseas, this is where we head.

I have some more kangaroo inspired designs in the making.

If you crochet and you want to make your own Wallaby Joey, the patterns is now available at my Etsy store.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=44224

Thanks for looking. I hope you have enjoyed the story.