I have a slight VW obsession, so I’m always on the hunt for good V-dub crochet patterns, and this one certainly fit the bill! It was fun to try my hand at fair isle in rows, as I’d only done it in the round before (I enlisted the help of YouTube for that!)

I was so excited that I started it right away with yarn from my stash. In hindsight, I would recommend using yarn from the same brand, as my mixture led to the gauge being off when I switched yarns. Worsted weight yarns obviously vary dramatically in thickness. The Bernat Aqua created smaller stitches than the Red Heart Super Saver White, so I switched back and forth between hooks for the front panel (what a pain!) I crochet tightly, so I had started with a hook size K. When I started alternating between Aqua & White and realized the size differential, I started using K for the Aqua and J for the white. Same problem with the Red Heart Soft in Gray that I used for the windows (instead of black). Blocking helped tremendously, as did blocking the back panel which was turning out smaller than the front. I think it will look ok when I stitch it together and stuff it.

For the rear tail lights, I couldn’t get it to look right with the orange/red/white combo (again, probably a gauge issue with different yarns). So I doubled the rows of orange before attaching the white.

I used Red Heart Luster Sheen (Fine weight - 2) to do the back stitch embroidery on the rear panel. I initially misinterpreted the photo and had started surface slip stitching, which looked too thick, so then it finally dawned on me to embroider instead. (The pattern doesn’t give any instructions on the embroidery details).

Debating whether or not to add the flower…TBD.

I decided to add a proper license plate, and used our wedding anniversary for the digits. We actually were lucky enough to borrow a 1967 Deluxe Samba as our get-away vehicle at our wedding! Couldn’t resist adding a photo of that bus :)

Will update once I assemble the pillow!