Bina Body Done
· crochet bug bina the bear lalylala 
The largest part of this project, the body, is almost done. I did make some mistakes, but about half-way through, I got the hang of it. After that, things got much better! After a few more rows, I have to do the tail, and stitch it to the body. Then, I can move on to the arms. Bina is starting to shape up.
Bina Growth
· crochet bug bina the bear lalylala 
This body is growing. I’ve added stuffing to the feet, legs and part of the body. It’s fun to see this shape up, but I now realize one leg seems to be a row shorter than the other. I bought a new row counter, so maybe that will help?
Bina Progress
· crochet bug bina the bear lalylala 
Well, I have two legs and got them crocheted together. And I’ve learned some things: I don’t know how to do the invisible decrease properly, I have holes at the top of the feet, where the stuffing shows through. They just look messed up to me. Crocheting on dark yarn requires good light. I keep messing up the stitch count. I think I may be skipping over a stitch occasionally because I didn’t see them.
Bina the Bear Project
· crochet bug bina the bear lalylala 
I finished the first bug from the Lalylala book. So I feel ready to tackle a bigger-sized project. I’ve chosen another Lalylala, but this time from her Doll Project. Bina the Bear , appears to be the first one, since it says No.I on the instructions. I figure it will be the least complicated and give me practice with the basic project without any additional things added, other than ears and tail. And both of those look fairly easy.
Full Grown Bottle Fly
· crochet bug blue bottlefly lalylala 
I finished all the parts for the blue bottlefly! I am so happy with the way she turned out. And I am happy that I am giving crochet a go. Some parts have been a bit of a struggle, but mostly, it’s been fun! The wings were easier to make than I thought they would be. I was worried, because there was a graphic “chart”, but the instructions were also written out. I didn’t really have any problem following either, after I understood them.
Blue Body Suit
· crochet bug blue bottlefly lalylala 
Yesterday, I made the “body suit” for the fly. It’s made from the same yarn as the hat. I got to learn how to crochet something that is flat and basically rectangular. In addition, this has a pattern to the upper part. I’m not totally sure if it’s right-side out, since I lost track of which was the front and which was the back side of the piece. But other than that, I think I did ok with it!
Blue Bottlefly Emerging
· crochet bug blue bottlefly lalylala 
The pupa was sitting very quitely in the corner of my desk most of the day yesterday. Towards the evening, though, I noticed it rocking a bit. This morning, I saw a pair of little eyes peeking out, and shortly after a beautifully transformed head! Now she is looking much more like an adult Blue Bottlfly with huge red eyes! Seriously, I worked and worked on this hat. It took several rounds of crochet followed by several froggings… But I finally got it! The eyes were actually the hardest, to make sure they matched each other! The antennae were super easy, surprisingly. Stitching it all together turned out to be easier that I thought it would be also!
Fly Pupa
· crochet bug lalylala 
I did it! And with a minimum of frogging! During the pupa stage the white, characterless maggot takes on the form of an adult fly. This is the pupa for my fly amigurumi. I love the way it’s little eyes peek out of the casing! As you can see here, she is just beginning her transformation. After we’re done playing, she will go to sleep and wake up as an adult blue bottle fly.
Fly Egg
· crochet bug lalylala 
Well, I think I’m getting a bit faster at making mistakes, LOL! Seriously, this is the little, hooded sleep sack that turns the larva into an “egg”. I learned how to do Half-Double crochets, how to increase them and decrease them. I did NOT learn how to “turn, chain two, hdc 1” very well. I had difficulty with this step. I also messed up the counting for leaving the opening in the sack, so it’s actually in the wrong place. But I kept going because I figured I was into it this far, I might as well finish it.
Fly Larva
· crochet bug lalylala 
I’m pretty happy with myself! I manage to get the hat for my fly larva finished with only a few restarts, as you can see below. These went in the bin after I finished the hat and took these pictures. I figured out something about the counting. Since I continuously mess it up, I grabbed the purple, disappearing ink pen that I normally use for sewing. I used it to mark the stitches that had to have an increase/decrease before doing each round. Bingo, bango…no more confusion!
First Stage: Larva
· crochet bug lalylala 
What was it that spurred me to want to learn how to crochet? It was the book "Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies" by Lydia Tresselet , aka Lalylala! This book is just adorable. It begins with a short story, illustrated with the completed projects from the book. This is followed by the section of Techniques, with very clear information accompanied with lots of great photographs. The next section is full of lots of patterns for making all kinds of things from eggs, to larva, to caterpillars to pupae and full grown beetles, butterflies and other fun bugs. There’s even leaves to wrap around your creations to keep them safe or hidden!