America! The Jolly Amigurumi Poos Return.

The Jolly Poos have returned from their respective homelands, and we have returned from our European adventure.  Our luggage has vomited on my living room and I can’t stop waking up at 3am to eat, but we did a lot of memorable things that are totally worth a bit of jet lag.  The short list of tourist traps (but beautiful tourist traps!) we visited during our two-week trip included the Eiffel Tower (could it really be avoided on a first trip to Paree?  At least we didn’t wait in line to climb the thing), the Champs-Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the Sacre-Coeur Basilica, Notre Dame, Chartres, the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, the Rodin Museum, the Tuileries Gardens, Versailles, Chartres, the British Museum, the Tower of London, Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross, Buckingham Palace, the Tate Modern museum, Westminster Abbey (just the outside—20 pounds to wait in line for an hour to go inside that thing on the last day of the trip? I think not), and the crowning vacation jewel—the Warner Brothers Harry Potter studio tour in Leavesden.  We ate french pastries and macarons for dinner, avoided gypsies on the Paris metro, and rode on a double decker bus (don’t sit on the top level if you get carsick).   I enjoyed London and Paris quite a lot and I am grateful for the opportunity to have experienced two new cities—but my God do I love ice cubes, excessively wide roads, toilet seat covers in public bathrooms, and the good old soul-crushing boredom of the American suburb.  It’s nice to be home.

The EuroPoos don't agree--don't they look like they had fun?

Monsieur Poo becomes automatically cultured by posing in close proximity to the Musee de Louvre.

Sir Poo enjoys the British Museum.

Monsieur Poo sunbathes in the Versailles gardens.

If you missed the live updates of the EuroPoo adventures while we were gone, fear not! You can catch up on the @KnotYoGrandma Instagram (who WOULDN'T want to miss two mustached pieces of crap posing in front of famous European monuments? Certainly not I). 

We had fun, too.  Paris really is beautiful, and the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour really is superb.  London is...like the US.  Except old.  And people advise you to "fag it in the bin" instead of "throw it in the trash."

Michael takes a stroll through Marie Antoinette's domain.

Underneath the Arc de Triomph.

It rained every day we were there...in May.

Hogwarts!

The Hogwarts Bridge!  Or at least what was left after Neville blew it up.

I am definitely excited for our next trip so that I can crochet some more European poo representatives (Señor Poo, anyone?)

Jolly Amigurumi Poo Goes Abroad!

Remember my Jolly Amigurumi Poo from this post?  He’d like me to introduce his European cousins, Monsieur Poo of Paris and Sir Poo of London!



In honor of our upcoming trip to England and France, I thought it would be fitting to branch out in the area of poo-related crochet and craft these charming fellows to accompany us. I used the same pattern as the original Jolly Amigurumi Poo and then had some fun accessorizing.  Monsieur Poo’s striped shirt was made by alternating rows of white and black worsted weight yarn from row 22 to the end of the pattern.  This gave me a chance to practice the tapestry method of crochet, where you carry along whatever color you’re not using and crochet your stitches right over it.  So much easier than weaving in a gajillion ends like you would with normal color changes!

I was not able to find a pattern for a tiny beret, so I made one up (scroll to the end of this post if you’d like to try it.  You know, in case you ever need to crochet a beret for a rodent).  Sir Poo’s top hat was crocheted using this pattern and then I hot glue-gunned the red ribbon around the brim.  His monocle was embroidered using black embroidery floss.  Both of their mustaches were cut out of black felt and were then glued to their poopy little faces.

Aren’t the EuroPoos dapper little fellows?







Miniscule Beret Pattern

SC 6 sts into a Magic Circle
R1: Inc in each st (12)
R2: *Inc, SC* rep x 6 (18)
R3: *Inc, 2 SC* rep x 6 (24)
R4: (Back loops only) *Dec, 2 SC* rep x 6 (18)
Finish off and leave a long enough tail to weave in and then poke the rest through the middle of the magic circle to create the beret’s little antenna.


These Jolly Poos are off to pose with some famous monuments.  Stay tuned for the post-trip photo post and make sure to follow the Jolly EuroPoo adventures on the brand new Knotyograndma Instagram!