Friday, March 13, 2015

Cardcaptor Sakura Staff Wand Crochet Pattern


After all, you have an invincible spell now: "I'm sure I'll be alright!"

Saw this adorable pattern for a Cardcaptor Sakura wand/staff pen by Mia  and had to use it to make a life size one! I've always wanted one of these since I was little but they are crazy expensive (and small)! You can make your own for less than $10 and about 4-5hrs of work!



This is a great prop since it's both cheap and quick to make! You will need the following:

*Red worsted weight yarn

*Yellow/gold worsted weight yarn

*white worsted weight yarn

*pink worsted weight yarn

*Dowel rod- I used a 3/4" wide by 36" long one but you can use any size or length you like! You should be able to find these at any craft/hobby store or home repair/woodworking store. They cost less than $2.

*Stuffing

*H hook

*F hook

*K hook

*large sewing needle/yarn needle

*Optional: Jewels for the eye part instead of yarn (not pictured)

This pattern is worked in rounds (unless otherwise noted) and may use any the following techniques/abbreviations:
Sc- single crochet
inc- increase
dec- decrease, particularly you should use the invisible decrease if you know how to do it
sc in each sc or work even- single crochet in each single crochet, don't add any increases or decreases
R- round or row
Ch- chain
# sc or sc #- for example 5 sc or sc 5 both mean to crochet in the next 5 sc, with one single crochet in each.
Repeat (*)- repeat what is between the asterisks * until you come to the end of the round, unless otherwise indicated
ring- magic ring. If you cannot do this technique then you may substitute this: ch 2 and sc however many were supposed to go in the ring into the second ch. However this will leave a small hole in the piece, this is why the magic ring is preferred, it leaves no visible hole. Many tutorials on how to do the magic ring are available online.

The numbers in parenthesis at the end of each row are the number of stitches you should have when that row is done. Mark the start of each round with a marker and move this marker as you complete rows/rounds.


I used Mia's pattern for the head piece of the staff but instead I used a K hook and 4 strands of yarn held together as one. This means you have 4 strands of yarn in your hand and you crochet with them like they were just one strand of yarn. This is a easy cheating way of making a pattern bigger in a really fast and easy way. What I did was make 2 small balls of yarn from my skein (you don't need too much) then take the strand of yarn from the outside of the skien and the inside of the skein and then you have 4!

Make and assemble the staff head piece per Mia's instructions with K hook and 4 strands of yarn held as one.

For the eye/jewel part I did the following:
With F hook and 1 strand of pink yarn:
Round1: 6 sc in ring (6)
R2- *inc* (12)
R3- * sc, inc* (18)
slip stich in next sc to smooth it out. Leave long tail for sewing.
You can also buy jewels from the craft store to glue on instead.

Making the staff body
Start w yellow yarn and H hook, 2 strands of yarn held together as one. You will be working in the round. 
Note for if you used a different sized dowel rod: You just have to make sure the staff covering fits snugly over the dowel so crochet a few rows and if it's not big enough start over and add a few stitches, if it's too big start over and remove a few stitches. It's as simple as that! Make sure you have enough rows to pull over the dowel and test!
Round1- 6 sc in ring (6)
R2- 1 sc, inc (9)
R3-4- sc in each sc (9) change to pink at end of round 4.
R5-?- sc in each sc (9)
I didn't count rows here since there are so many! Just keep working until you get to almost the end of your dowel, about an inch or less from the end. It's good to test the staff cover by pulling it over the dowel to check it as you work. But be sure to crochet it when it is OFF the dowel, it's much easier! Once you get to almost the end of the dowel do the following:
Change to yellow and do three rounds of yellow. 9 sc for each round
Change to red and do one round of red. 9 sc for each round. Pull the staff cover over the dowel rod now. You will now close up the bottom.
Next do 3 sc, dec, 2 sc, dec (7) begin stuffing the bottom.
Next: 4 sc, dec, sc (6) Finish stuffing bottom.
Finally: 1, dec, sc
Sew tip closed.

Now sew on the head piece, it's much easier to do after the cover is already on the dowel rod. You can also make a small chain of yellow and sew it just below the staff top piece (like in Mia's pattern). It smooths out the transition from head piece to staff. Just make a chain long enough to go around the thickness of the staff and sew it on. You are ready to capture those cards!




3 comments:

  1. Woooow! Cool! I don't even know where it is from! But cool!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! It's from Cardcaptor Sakura, a very cute magical girl anime/manga! Check it out if you like cute stuff!

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  2. hola me encanto la varita de sakura y me gustaria pedirte si podrias poner el patron completo y que si es posible de una manera mas entendible porque hay muchas cosas que no se comprenden muy bien te felicito por tu trabajo un abrazo

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