Crochet Qilin

 In a KNUTshell

• The Qilin is approximately 24cm tall. 
•  Their head, body and legs are crocheted in Sheepjes stone washed yarn and Lion Brand Yarn's "shawl in a ball" (this is what gives the colour-changing, sparkly effect!)
• Their mane is crocheted in Jamces C Brett luxury faux fur yarn in 'caramel'. 
• The legs, neck and tail contain craft wire, to make them posable. 
• Their bronze eyes are attached safety backs, to ensure they can’t fly off! 
• The Qilin comes with a custom book-page badge, as with all other beasties.
• They are stuffed with recycled polyester filling.
• Crochet beasties are made to order, so please allow 4-5 weeks from the point of adoption, before they will be ready to fly free.
• While all my beasties are made with love and care, they are not CE-tested, so are not intended as toys for young children

The Backstory 

When I first watched The Secrets of Dumbledore, I had a sense of dejavu from several years back, when I saw a majestic, magical cat pounce onto the cinema screen. As with the Zouwu, from the moment my mad-eye spied the Qilin, my mind was ablaze with stitch counts and strands of copper-spangled yarn. I didn't need a crystal ball or tea leaves to tell me that a crochet Qilin simply had to be in my future!  

Nonetheless, as enchanted as I was by this creature, as the film progressed I realised just how much a challenge it would be. For one, their colour seemed to change between scenes, and there was this combination of adumbledorable cuteness and wise grace that seemed impossible to capture without CGI Wizardry, Yet was I to let that stop me? No sir!  

The Design Story 

As with any beastie, the trick is knowing what to crochet them with - it's all in the materials! I consequently invested quite a few sickles in possible yarn options, and ultimately settled on a double-strand approach. 

I used the shade “brown agate” from the Scheepjes stone-washed range (the same yarn that I use for my Thestrals!) alongside Lion Brand's sparkly “shawl in a ball” yarn - this is what makes the colour shift from copper to gold as you move down the neck. I then used the off-white "moonstone" shade for the Scheepjes range, with the sparkly white section of the Shawl yarn, for the chest and eye patches. I then used the most luxurious faux fur yarn for the mane and tail, which is nigh-on impossible to crochet with but is truly magical to see & feel.

Technically, this pattern is one of my most complex to date. It involved one of my least favourite things - colour changing - to get the stripe down the front, and I also decided to use craft wire in the legs, tail AND neck, so she’s as posable as my Bowtruckles - as the photos show! Finally, I decided to fully commit with the “scale effect” detailing, which involved chain stitch ridges in her face and a raised panel along her back, ending with the tail.

This pattern has taken months to develop, with a lot of stop-starts, but I am so delighted with the end result and hope you love her as much as I do! 

Your Story 

As with all other Spew Crew beasties, each Qilin is handmade to my own pattern, so is 100% exclusive to Bumble and Be. As they are made-to-order, it means that no two will be quite the same, but I like to think that is part of their magic - just like an Ollivander wand!

Every single Qilin adopted will also come with their own exclusive adoption card and "beastie book badge", which I make from the secondhand pages of Harry Potter books. Before your beastie flies off to you, I will ask if you have a name in mind and - if so - put this onto the adoption card. On that note, this name will often form the basis for the book badge too.

My makes are inspired by the Wizarding World, but are unlicensed and have no affiliation with Warner Bros/JK Rowling.