Happy monday everyone!
I had intended to publish the second part of my Highland Coo head tutorial last week, but I ended up spending a week in the beautiful Western Isles for work, which didnt leave a lot of time for internet! I did finish the Coo though, and he is on his way to his new home now.
At the end of the Part 1 tutorial, we had crocheted the main head part, and the back panels, stuffed the head and made the circle for hanging to the wall. In this part, I will go over making the facial features, sewing together and attaching the hair, so lets get started!
There are several bits to the face that are crocheted separately then sewn on. The muzzle is the next logical section - the three sections below make up the nose and lips. the left piece is the lower lip - this is standard dc increases to form a circle, with a few rows of straight dc around. This is sewn to the end of the head so that the top edge sits at ~row 6 on the head.
A small amount of stuffing is required to give the mouth some extra shape.
The middle piece is the upper lip - again this is a simple dc increase circle (slightly bigger than the lower lip). the piece is then flattened and joined with slip stitches, and this is sewn on so that the bottom edge sits approximately half way down the lower lip. The pattern suggests using the joined edge along the bottom, but I actually find this edge much easier to sew straight along the top edge of the lower lip, so I turn mine upside down.
The third piece (right) is the nose, and really gives the face character. This piece is worked in the round again, but is a flat shape. A small amount of stuffing is added, and it is sewn onto the top edge of the upper lip. The lower edge is sewn to the bottom of the upper lip. This creates the iconic nose and muzzle of the Heeland Coo :)
The ears and eyes are crocheted as separate pieces, then sewn onto the face.
Once the muzzle is complete, its a good point to hang the Coo up and pin on the rest of the facial pieces. I position the ears and eyes, make sure that they are aligned and straight, before sewing them in position.
Other details such as eyelashes can be added at this point:
Now that most of the pieces are sewn on its time to add the fringe hair! Any colour way could be used here - Ive used a combination of teal, pink and gold. I have a piece of card that I use as a template to wrap my yarn around, so that I get relatively even lengths of each colour. You will need a lot of each colour (~1.5-2 balls). Take ~28cm lengths of each shade, then fold in half. Insert the hook through a stitch and draw the yarn loop through, then weave the loose ends through the loop and pull to tighten. I start at the front centre of the edge of the head, next to where the base is attached and work a 'fringe' stitch every 3 stitches. You can pack the stitches closer together to give a more dense hair in places if you choose.
The fringe should be continued up the side of the head to approx the level of the ears. I normally complete the front fringing, then will attach the horns, before finishing off the head. This ensures that you have everything placed before going to the effort of adding the fringing! The front of the head fringe is longer, so I increase the lengths of yarn to ~35cm - this gives the floppy haired look when its finished!
So the final pieces to crochet are the horns. The horns of Highland Cows are very long, so I have been experimenting with wiring to give them some support.
The horns are stuffed as you go along - make sure and stuff firmly, as will impact the way they sit once all attached to the head. Sew around above the ears, pushing more stuffing into the base.
Attach fringing around the horns and ears, using the longer lengths from the peak of the head to the back base, so that hair falls around the face.
The finished fringing can be left to look naturally ragged, or it could be trimmed to be more even - I prefer the natural look.
That completes the How to make a Heeland Coo - hopefully it inspires someone to have a shot :)
Goodbye from me and my crochet buddy :)