Read Across America Crochet-a-Long

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland CAL Across begins this week!! Are you ready? I have been working on these puppets since my Christmas break, and I am so excited to begin sharing them with you! These puppets are inspired by the originally book,  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll; illustrated by Sir John Tenniel. The very first illustrations were drawn in black and white of course, but the first time Tenniel added color to them, after consulting with Carroll, Alice’s dress was actually yellow! Feel free to make it blue if you’d like but to stay true to the book, I have used yellow.

In case you haven’t seen my No Unnecessary Yarn Purchases Challenge I shared on Instagram earlier this year, I challenged myself to work through the yarn I have on hand here. I will only buy yarn when absolutely necessary for a design or project I’m about to start immediately, and so far I have only purchased 2 skeins! I even tore apart a 6-year-old WIP (work in progress) that I have no intentions of finishing, just so I could use the yellow I desperately needed. You will see that in use here!!

That being said, I want you to be creative with the colors used for his project! You do not need to use the exact colors I have used, but I do want you to be prepared. Listed below is the simple list of general colors needed (which are not the exact yarn names), so that you can just look through your stash to see if you have anything similar. Farther down, you will find a more exact list available should you choose to buy the yarn used for these puppets.

I bought everything I needed to make these puppets, as JoAnn! And they almost always have some great sales going on! Here are some current and upcoming sales for ordering what you need for these puppets!

Take 10% off your order when you spend $75+, plus free shipping on orders of $75+ at JOANN with code MARCHSAVINGS!

Get 40% off one regular-priced item at JOANN with code MARCH40. Valid through 4/1!

Get 20-50% off everything you need for Easter at JOANN!

General Colors Needed

This is a general list of colors needed in order of the amount needed for each color for the whole set of characters:

1. Green – Darker green is used more for the lizard, and lighter green for the turtle.
2. Blue – Some various shades of blue are used, the most common being Navy or Royal.
3. Yellow – Some various shades of yellow are used, the most common being more of a mustard shade. If you are using yellow for Alice’s dress, be sure to have a lighter yellow on hand for her hair.
4. White
5. Gray
6. Beige – Used mostly for skin tone, but also under bellys and lighter animal skin areas.
7. Red – Some different shades of red are used, the most common being a Cherry red.
8. Brown
9. Rust (orange/brown) – I listed this separate from brown because it there is a difference required between animals here.
10. Off white
11. Black – Almost exlusively used for the eyes, noses, and general small details.
12. Pink – Used only once for a bunny nose.

These are the colors used, in a nut shell, which will be most helpful in creating these fun characters. See what you might already have in your stash!

A More Detailed List of Yarns Used

You will not need more than 1 skein of each.

In Alphabetical order:

Red Heart Super Saver Yarns

Baby Pink 

Black 

Buff 

Burgundy

Cherry Red 

Cornmeal

Country Blue

Gold 

Medium Thyme

Pool 

Royal

Saffron 

Soft Navy 

White 

Red Heart With Love

Eggshell 

Light Grey 

Ochre Brown

Peacock

Other Materials Used:

Here is a list of all other materials used, or that which would be deemed helpful to use throughout this CAL!

1. Crochet Hook, H-5mm
2. Scissors
3. Stitch marker
4. Tapestry needle
5. Tulip Puffy (or Slick) Dimensional Fabric Paint – Black

This Crochet-a-Long is still a bit of a work in progress, so as you guys are getting the first couple of patterns, I am still working on the last few of the set. It will cover a large span of time, and you may want to just make certain characters, and not others. That’s ok! Do what you want. Make the ones you really want to! This post will be updated as we go, and the characters will be released in the order in which they appear in the book, beginning with Alice!

When we are all done with the whole CAL, there will be an ebook available where all the patterns will be in one place with a clickable table of contents for your convenience. Stay tuned, and I hope you enjoy!

Released So Far