Save Handmade Toys

So I might be a little slow to get on the bandwagon, but here it is: Save Handmade Toys. Because of all the insanity in toy safety in 2007 there have been some modifications to laws on toys. Good and bad. Anyway, visit the following link (or the previous one) for more info and help save handmade goodies.

Cool Mom Picks gives an overview of what's going on and easy tips and links on how to get involved. It's where you can get the source code for that cute Save Handmade button, too.

I could say a lot more about this whole state of affairs, my hubby sure is saying a lot - you should see the instant messages pouring in from him about it! Well maybe it's better you didn't, he's a little bit harsh - but I'd rather keep this site pleasant and free from too much of that heavy stuff that happens in everyday life. There are plenty of places to read rants and raves I don't think I need to add to it. (^_^). Perhaps I can encourage my hubby to start his own blog though. Hm. But promise you won't disown me through association!

Thanks for all the support and visits. Please go check out the news on Cool Mom Picks and even if you just click the vote button on Change.org it's a start.

It's good to be home

Ok. I've been back from Thailand now for three weeks and the Christmas rush is over so I guess it's time to check in.

Thailand was...certainly a trip to remember. Other than some physical ailments on my part and the most wonderful closing of both airports in our area, due to that almost coup like protest, we did have a great time. My daughter especially had a great time. She met family she didn't know we had and experienced a whole different way of life. The weather was warm and humid but not too bad. The mosquitos were few. Thank goodness because I blow up like a blimp from mosquito bites.

Most of our trip was spent either near Bangkok where my mother is staying at my aunt’s or at Hua Hin and Cha Am which is less than three hours away from there. Because of the airport fiascos we didn’t make it to Chiang Mai to see my friend on Thanksgiving – I was really bummed about that. A few days later my friend brought her hubby and daughter to see us though which turned out marvelous. They drove their own car down. It was like a 7-8 hour drive I think. I owe her. Then we stayed at the Sheraton Resort and Spa in Hua Hin thanks to her frequent flier miles. Did I mention I owe her?

Getting a flight home was also tricky. There was a lot of calling of airlines and travel agents. The airports opened at the last minute and in the end my flight was delayed by only one day. However it now included a 12 hour layover at Narita Airport in Tokyo. If we weren’t so sick and tired and just wanting to get home I might have been excited about a 12 hour layover in Japan. But as it was we stayed at the airport, slept most of the morning at the gate, and then just shopped at the gift shops in the terminal. Again, I was blessed with a 6 year old that didn’t seem phased by anything. Oh I hadn’t mentioned yet what a trooper my daughter was; very minimal complaining or fussing on her part. Thank goodness because I would’ve certainly lost it otherwise. I did however get airsick for the first time. On the last flight home there was bad turbulence. We were on a totally full 737. The turbulence was so bad they had to stop serving dinner. The turbulence was so bad people were screeching. The turbulence was so bad my daughter kept asking me if we were landing already. Yea. Scary. Thankfully we both fell asleep and woke up about 2 hours prior to landing. Woohoo!

We’re so glad to be home but I missed the best of the holiday season I think. Missing Thanksgiving really messed up my Christmas season. My husband didn’t get to go on the trip with us either so that was a big bummer. Ah well, it’s done and we’re home.

So, when will I get back to crafting? To be honest I’m not sure. I have a feeling I’ll be trying to make a sackboy (from the videogame Little Big Planet) soon. My husband is actually hunting for the Simply Knitting Jan issue. Stay tuned…

Happy New Year!

Sa-wat dee ka!

I have nothing to report on the crafting front. Nothing. At all. I’m STILL working on that cabled scarf. I’m STILL working on that drawing (barely). But most of all I’m working on getting ready for a trip. And it’s driving me totally batty.

We leave next week for a three week trip to Thailand. We have family and friends there to visit. I have been only once before in 1990. This will be my daughter’s first trip. So I’m going nuts with the preparations. I admit I’m a little freaking out about the looooong plane ride - 11+ hours to Tokyo (2+hr layover) with still another 7+ hours to Bangkok from there. Ugh. I am mostly freaking about entertaining a six year old in close quarters for that many hours. I bought coloring books, activity books, Klutz books, regular books, new markers (the set of 12) to use with the sketch book I got from Stubby Pencil Studio (remember?) because she loves to draw and a volume locking child’s headphone set she can use with her NintendoDS or my extra 1gb iPod that I’m gonna cram with her favorite music (High School Musical and other related popsy type songs. Although I have to say she has a wide variety of likes when it comes to music.) and possibly some audio books. You think that’s enough stuff?!?! They tell me the airplanes are equipped with all sorts of cool entertaining things for kids now plus I’m sure they’ll show a few movies. Right?

I’ve also been stressing about buying gifts. You know how it is… you haven’t seen people in ages you just feel the need to bring gifts. The hardest part has been finding something that they might not have over there. Something made in the USA is even harder to find. I’m still hunting for a few more gifts.

Sooooo other than the stress of getting ready to travel, the stress of the thought of traveling, and the stress of all this gift purchasing I’m also feeling stressed about missing Thanksgiving and a birthday with my hubby (his birthday, not mine. We’ll be back in plenty of time for mine *grin* - mine is Dec. 24 if you’re wondering hehehe). That’s right. He doesn’t get to go this time around. It was a tough decision. I’m regretting it some now but what must be done must be done.

Ok. I’m off. I admit there’s a good possibility I won’t be back on until the New Year. When we get back there’ll be a lot to do what with Christmas fast approaching. Till then happy holidays to you all and God Bless!

(^_^)v

the photos I've shared in this post are photos my mom took in Thailand and sent over

Sa-wat dee is "hello" and "good-bye" in Thai

Almost Nearly Always

(hm that could be a good title for a children’s story maybe…)

I started this drawing at the beginning of the month hopeful that by the end I’d surely be done with it (ugh I forgot how slow going stippling can be), but behind the trees on the road of life are always the hidden curves and hills that seem to slow me down. I don’t want to delay sharing this drawing though, because if I do it probably won’t be seen again until next year. Remember my Little Bo Peep? Ah huh. So here it is.

Just a line drawing. I didn’t have any plans for it when it started. I was kinda just doodling… in ink. In ink? What was I thinking? Who knows. Apparently I wasn’t… thinking that is, not thinking clearly, and therefore clearly something was missing. So I drew this little ghost girl and cut and paste her in with Photoshop. Hahaha I felt like I cheated big time. It was cheating, wasn't it? Anyway, Happy Halloween or Harvest Time or whatever it is you might be celebrating if anything at all… or if not… just happy day!

(~_^)v

Out and About

The Western Railway Museum is not too far from where we live – less than an hour, an easy peasey day trip no problem. We arrived later in the day than we had planned but it turned out that was the better time to be there crowd wise. At the museum we bought our tickets for the 5 miles/10 minute train ride out to the private grove. Trains left every half hour. They were the old electric trains from the late 1930’s to early 1940’s. They were kept in great condition and even sported adverts from that time period. Look at these.

They are so funny! Can you see what they say?

Yeah, I can't see it either so from left to right top to bottom:

Expect Runs Unless you LUx your stockings after every wearing

Proposition 20 will cost you plenty:

Land Values Destroyed... VOTE NO

The End of a Perfect Smoke - For more FUN smoking...

a LIFE SAVER after each cigarette!

MEN! For greater comfort change to REIS SCANDALS -

No other underwear has this Patented "Dart" Non-sag Pouch -

Cut to fit to fight fatigue!

The train rickety-rackettied down the track blowing its airhorn. The conductor kept the front door open so the breeze could blow right through the train. Then the ticket collector walked down the aisle and punched our tickets. So nostalgic. It was really a fun ride through the country side. Pass cows, pass sheep, pass windmills old and new. Everyone was crowded in, shoulder to shoulder, bumping along (very bumpy, lots of swayin’), with not a care in the world. We arrived at Gum Grove all too soon. Nicely shaded and not too crowded, we were greeted with bales of hay topped with perfect orange pumpkins and fun handmade scarecrows.
Although the stands were sold out of hot dogs and hamburgers there were still plenty of sweets. Gooey caramel apples, sticky candy floss, and refreshing lemon smoothies. The Hipwaders were still rockin’ out. They were playing Song of the Paleo Pirates when we arrived. Kids were jammin’ right along on stage with the blow up guitars sold at the cd table. There were llamas, and a tractor ride, and family portraits in a pumpkin setting. The biggest hit was the haystack fort. If you ask me it was too scary inside – narrow, dark… eeee. I felt like a hamster crawling around. Do not enter if you’re claustrophobic!


The next best thing was the Pumpkin Chuckin’ – well, depending who you asked this was the first best thing. For $1 you picked out a tiny pumpkin and snuggled it in a sling tied between two posts. Then you pulled back as far as you could at the angle you preferred and *THWOP* let it fly baby! My hubby and daughter did it twice each. There were boxes set up randomly in the field but I don’t think you got prizes for landing pumpkins in them. Boo.

When back at the museum again we visited a few more different types of trains. It was awesome to see the pristine condition they were in. The craftsmanship that went into making them is something you don’t see in much of anything these days. Then there were the interesting innovations like the Lifeguard Fenders and Eclipse Fenders. These were grates put on the front of the train to prevent anyone unlucky enough to be hit by the train from being further run over by the train. How nice, eh?All in all it was a wonderful day. I don’t know if I’d really call the Pumpkin Festival a festival, it was kinda tiny and not very festivalish…maybe more like big family picnic day (which I think is cooler anyway), but for what it was – totally volunteer operated by local rotary clubs and other kind souls – it was great. The trains were the real treat. They really transported us back in time, out there in the middle of no where surrounded by empty fields with the smell of hay and the touch of a gently breeze, children laughing with sticky faces and hay in their hair and stuck to their clothes, good wholesome music and adults shooting pumpkins into the air, it really felt like a simpler era. *sigh*

Well, that's that. I still haven't been crocheting. I'm still working on that knitted cabled scarf. And I've been drawing on the side. Next post I'll share the drawing, ok?

(^_^)v

.

Sharing is caring (~_^)

Since I’m not doing very well in the amigurumi making department at the moment I thought I might as well talk about other people who are. There are so many skilled people out there. One of my favorite is Owlishly. Just look at all her cutey little dolls!! So much variety. So much cuteness.

Right now she’s offering a free pattern. Sleepy Sarah is now available for download in pdf format on her website. Go take a peek, wander around, and be sure to leave her a nice comment! She’s got a lot of patterns for sale on her Etsy site so be sure to check that out, too! I haven’t actually tried one of her patterns yet *shame* but they look very well written and easy to follow.

I hope this makes up for my own lack of productivity. You all probably knew about Owlishly already, huh? (^_^)"

I Love...

I love art/office/school supplies. Now that I’m not in school anymore I don’t have any good excuses for buying loads of that type of stuff though. My daughter is still a little too young to really need much of it either, but oh oh oh watch out when she gets older. I’ll be buying the supplies with extras for ME! MUAHAHA Here are two recent sites I love for supplies:

Stubby Pencil Studio based in Portland, Oregon has a wonderful stock of eco friendly supplies. I just ordered some colored smencils and recycled sketchbooks from them and the whole shopping experience was wonderful. Quick, marvelous customer service. I even got a bunch of surprise complimentary goodies! These cutie monkey pencils are currently free with every order! woot! Super Eggplant shared this website last week: JetPens.com. *drool* Pens are my ultimate weakness. Pens… and shoes… oh, and good food… hm, and….(I have a lot of weaknesses come to think of it). They have all sorts of pens there. Artsy pens, serious business pens, cute pens... *drool* I wanted to try one of these scented lead mechanical pencils, but it's sold out now. *cry* They still have the lead though so maybe I could just get that. But, it's just not the same! Oh and I haven't actually bought anything from this site but I really really want to. All the reviews I've read so far about the shop and the products have been good though. (^_^)'

And since I’m sharing web things my husband asked me to share this:

http://cender.net/img/thehoff/hoffkick.gif

What a weirdo.

Everything but...

Everything but amigurumi. Sorry. I didn’t get very far with the whole amigurumi-ing during my midweek weekend. :( I tried. I really did. I got the yarn out, I had my hooks out, I even started something… but… I just wasn’t inspired enough I guess. So instead I started knitting a scarf. I have two skeins of wool ease sitting about and just the right size needles. I found this pattern of an easy cabled scarf at Pieknits. It's at the bottom of the page and is called Ropes and Ladders Scarf. I always wanted to try cabling. And that was that. Sad. Then today I finally painted this little girl. She’s dated 09.21.07. Just over a year later I’ve completed her.

Hahaha Man, I’m slow!

Midweek Weekend

Today and tomorrow is my midweek weekend. I don’t have to go to work, I usually don’t have any appointments, my daughter is in school all day. Life is good. It used to be better in the sense that I had Mondays off. That was great for cleaning up the insanity left by the hurricane over the official weekend. But my schedule has changed and now I don’t have off until Wednesday. There’s more to clean up because of the Monday and Tuesday insanity that got piled on top of weekend hurricane madness that didn’t get cleaned up, but that’s ok. Because I still have all day Thursday. WOOHOO! So you know what that means for you blog readers? That maybe I’ll have a chance to actually start and even complete little amigurumi type projects to post here instead of all this lyrical nonsense. Ok well, not so lyrical more like monotonal (is that even a word???). The point is MORE AMIGURUMI! Yay! YAY!

Rainbows, Unicorns, and Dogs with Stinky Butt

My daughter is fine, by the way. After a very dead to the world three hour nap yesterday morning she woke up spryer than ever.

*BOING* “What day is it? Is it Friday??” she says, no SINGS, as she practically flies off her loft bed all smiles and twinkles like she’s sliding down a rainbow.

Really, it was like nothing ever happened. As if only a few short hours ago she hadn’t been crying and moping and clutching at her stomach like she had a bad episode at a *insert foreign food type here* restaurant. Of course I still had to make the day as boring as possible so she wouldn’t get any bright ideas about more sick days. So who was totally bored in the end? The child who suddenly had unicorns and faeries prancing around her throwing flowers? Of course not. It was me. ME! A totally boring wasted day. I was at a complete loss. After having all my original plans flushed down the toilet I didn’t know how to recompose myself. hahahaHAHAHAHA But that was yesterday. Wonderful, boring, quiet, yesterday.

Today. TODAY?! The dog has the runs. Because this morning I caught her sneaking huge gulps of our cat’s wet food (which we don’t normally give him but because I didn’t get out yesterday to get any cat food it was what we had in the house for him which is better than usual in times of running out of cat food which would be nothing at all. So if it weren’t for the freebie one-serving pack we got during our last purchase of cat food he would’ve starved. STARVED, I say. He certainly was very vocal about it this morning. I thought I was being nice. I thought I was giving him a special treat. But nooOOOOooo he turned his nose at it! How ungreatful.) So now, now our dog has the runs. EW! All afternoon I thought I was smelling some nasty fumes occasionally but I didn’t imagine it would come to this. Thank goodness she’s well house trained. And I almost waited longer to take her out because I was in the middle of typing the first part of this entry.

Mini flashback: “Not now, DOG. ARGH I just took you out less than an hour ago! What is your problem? STOP BANGING AT THE FRONT DOOR!”

Well needless to say I was very happy I gave in.

Thank goodness it’s at least the weekend.

ADMS - Do You Have the Skills?

When I was a kid I remember pretending to be sick and getting away with it. When I was a kid I remember actually being sick and sent to school anyway. And as a kid I was like, “What is going on with your adult decision making skills?”

Hey, I like that. "adult decision making skills". I think it should be official. "ADMS. Do You Have the Skills?" Sounds like an advert. But to appeal to the younger parenting generation maybe it should be SkillZ . yuk.

Today my daughter doesn’t feel well. She woke up at 6 am crying real actual tears saying her tummy hurt. Oh it’s always a bad thing with the tummy hurting. And as much as I wanted to believe her 100% the little voice still said , “eh it’s nothing. How can she be having a tummy ache? She went to the bathroom yesterday all normal like. She’s been eating good food, lots of fruit low on the junk. We all ate the same dinner and no one else is sick! Ugh what’s wrong now?!” (Never mind the fact that there is some weird stomach illness going on right now - just this week three people went home complaining of similar stomach ailments at the office I part time at. No it can't be THAT obvious, I can't be THAT rational). I don’t want to send her to school if she’s really sick but then I don’t want to keep her home if she isn’t. She’ll start to think that making the slightest feign of illness will get her a free ticket home. As a first grader she’s still learning the tricks of the trade – How to Get Mom to Sign Off on Absences. So after I let her sulk a bit and we did some squishing I told her to get ready for school. An hour later all dressed and sitting at the dining table she was still complaining of her tummy ache. She had since then gone to the bathroom and had half a tablet of child’s Pepto-Bismol all to no avail. She had no fever but looked pretty pale. What to do? The clock was ticking. Call or don’t call? Baby her or toughen her up? She’s only 6 years old for goodness sakes. I finally gave in and called the school attendance line. Thank goodness for answering machines because I hate the way the school makes you feel guilty for calling in absences. So straight to bed she’s gone and she actually is sleeping. Poor thing.

Oh yeah baby, I got da skillz.

...who will no longer remain nameless...

How many here remember my little doll "Nameless"? Show of hands?

*crickets*

Ok, I know it's been a long time. I'm ashamed to say that it's been since February that I've done anything with this doll. And I've posted so little since then that I believe you can still see the post we're talking about if you just scroll down a bit on the main page. *shaaaaaaame* (-_-)''

Some of you were even so nice to respond to that post with very cute names for my poor doll. It's only since yesterday that I've finally decided to name her:

Zoe Lily-Belle!

I'm not that crazy about the "Belle" part but somehow it just seemed to fit. So without further ado, here is the pattern that I wrote for her way back then (look at what healthy guilt trips can get ya!). I made it as a pdf document but as I don't have a place to share those types of files at the moment I'm just going to have to cram it all here on this post! woohoooooo!! *cram cram cram* It's all ugly now, too. It was so much prettier in pdf format. *sigh*

It would probably be best if you highlighted the whole thing and pasted it into some kind of word document. That way you can save it to your computer and print it out for writing on or cussing at or tearing up or... or...

Oh, and by the way, if you leave comments with questions be sure to leave some way for me to contact you! I sometimes try to answer them in the comment section or by writing a new entry, so check back. But give me some time. And if I NEVER answer ... well... then I just don't, do I? Sorry.(^-^)*

Exclusive Original AmigurumiGirl Pattern - Free Free Free Free Free Woot!
(I love the word "free"!)

DISCLAIMER: or maybe REMINDER: I suck at pattern writing. Please please keep this in mind as you do this pattern. There are mistakes. I've corrected some. And others are probably better left alone. Use this as a guideline and let your inner creativity lead the way. You'll be fine. Any little "mistakes" can be looked as your own added charm. Good luck!

PS- for further insight and notes on this pattern from a completely unbiased source please check out House Full of Monkeys. I think her post will help you a lot with this pattern.

Zoe Lily-Belle

Materials:

Hook size D - 3.0mm
Tapestry needle

Black safety eyes (Darice Solid Black 12mm)

Yarn Color A – beige (“skin”)
Yarn Color B – leaf green (shirt)
Yarn Color C – chocolate brown (skirt and shoes)
Yarn Color D – white (underpants)
Yarn Color E – wine (hair)

Note: I used Red Heart Soft Yarn – medium worsted, Red Heart Sport in white, and a mystery double knit in beige for this project (sorry there was no label on the skein). Although next time I’d choose something much more light weight for the hair I think.

Embroidery thread – black
Embellishments – beads, ribbons, etc (although I didn’t use any this time around I have some ideas...)


Stitch notes:

Magic ring – this is a neat way to start crocheting in the round that offers a tight closed hole in the center. You can find a visual tutorial at PlanetJune . Lots of good stuff there in fact so be sure to go poke around!

Bobble Stitch – work 5 hdc into 1 sc (the number 5 is really “adjustable”. You can do less for a smaller nose or more for a really good sized honker. You can also use dc instead of hdc. Experiment to get the look you want.)

Hook the yarn through (in hair section) - by this I mean fold your piece of yarn in half. Stick your hook into one sc and out another. Hook the folded yarn and pull it through. Then reach through the loop you’ve created and pull through the ends of the yarn piece. Pull taught.


Beginning at the top of the head:

Using Color A
Start with magic ring of 6 sc (this is my preferred way to start working in rounds but you can use whatever way you’re comfortable with)

Rnd 1: 2sc in each sc (12)
Rnd 2: 1 sc in first sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (18)
Rnd 3: 1 sc in each next 2 scs, 2sc in next sc * repeat 6 times (24)
Rnd 4: 1 sc in each next 3 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (30)
Rnd 5: 1 sc in each next 4 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (36)
Rnd 6: 1 sc in each next 5 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (42)
Rnd 7: 1 sc in each next 6 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (48)
Rnd 8-10: 1 sc in each sc – 3 rows even of 48 each
Rnd 11: 1 sc in each sc - somewhere (anywhere, really, but preferably not too close to the beginning or the end) in this round work one bobble stitch for a nose
Rnd 12: 1sc in each sc (48)
Rnd 13: 1 sc in each next 6 scs, 2sctog * repeat 6 times (42)
Rnd 14: 1 sc in each next 5 scs, 2sctog* repeat 6 times (36)
Rnd 15: 1 sc in each next 4 scs, 2sctog* repeat 6 times (30)
Rnd 16: 1 sc in each next 3 scs, 2sctog* repeat 6 times (24)
Rnd 17: 1 sc in each next 2 scs, 2sctog* repeat 6 times (18)
Rnd 18: 2 sctog* repeat 6 times (9) - originally I got 12 as the final count which I'm sure it should be but how it got there I can't remember... 1 sc, 2sctog repeat 6 times? prehaps.

Switch to Color B (optional: work one row of slip stitches – this is an uncounted row and purely to make the switch look neater. If you don’t want to do it you really don’t have to, but I do say it does lend a nice finished look to your work.) Here we are at the neck and the top of the shirt/dress.

Note:
Rnd 19 is worked behind the row of slip stitches into color A of Rnd 17

Rnd 19: 1 sc in next sc, 2 sc in next* repeat 6 times (18)

At this point you may want to stop and put the eyes in. Place them on Rnd 11 spaced evenly apart from the cluster you made for the nose. This would also be a good time to embroider in the eyelashes and eyebrows and/or any other facial features you’d like. Stuff the head firmly.

Rnd 20: 1 sc in each next 2 scs, 2sctog* repeat 6 times (24)

Rnd 21-24: 1 sc in each sc - 4 rows even of 24 each

Switch to Color C Work one row of slip stitches (optional again – see previous note). This begins the skirt.

Note:
Rnd 25 is worked behind the row of slip stitches into the front loops only of color B in row 24. We are working into the front loops only here because we are going to come back with Color D and work into the back loops later. Depending on your tension while you crochet this can be a bit tight, but it can be done! Persevere!

Skirt

Rnd 25: in front loops only work 1 sc in each next 3 scs, 2sc in next* repeat 6 times (30)
Rnd 26: 1 sc in each next 4 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (36)
Rnd 27: 1 sc in each sc (work more even rnds for a longer skirt if you like!)
Rnd 28: skirt edge – 1 slst in first sc, 1 slst, 1hdc, 1 slst in next sc, 1 slst in next sc* repeat to end.
BO weave in end.

Switch to Color D

Going back to Rnd 24 into the back loops work 1 sc in each sc (30)
Rnd 25a: 1 sc in each sc (30)
Rnd 26a-27a: see note

26a: 1 sc in each (15)
27a: 1 sc in each (15)

Work a round of slip stitch. Switch to Color A.

Note: you need to eyeball things here. You are going to work sc until you get to the middle front of your doll. At this point you are going to put your hook through two scs at one time; the one you are on and counting to 15 stitches after that, therefore pinching the front and back together in the center with one sc. You should now have two “circles” of 15 sc each (hello leg!). Continue working 1 sc in each around then work one row of slip stitches. This is one leg of the shorts/underpants. Make a super long tail and pull it through that center sc you made earlier. You can use this tail to finish the other side of the pants later. Or, if you prefer, you can BO and pick up new yarn later on. Confused yet? Whew.

Legs

Rnd 28a: with Color A work in round 27a behind slip stitch row. 1 sc in each (15)
Rnd 29a-33a: 1 sc in each – 5 even rows of 15

Bind off.

Pick up Color D at Rnd 26a work 2 even rounds of 15 each. Work an uncounted round of slip stitches and proceed with leg 2 as done for leg 1. Bind off.

Shoes

Using Color C
Start with magic ring of 5 sc

Rnd 1: 2sc in each sc (10)
Rnd 2: 1 sc in first sc, 2 sc in next sc* repeat 5 times (15)
Rnd 3: ch 2 (counts as first hdc), skip one sc, 1 hdc in each sc after that, join last hdc to ch 2 with slst
Rnd 4: 1 sc in each hdc (15)
Rnd 5: 1 sc in each sc (15)

Bind off leaving a looooong tail for whip stitching shoe to leg.

Stuff the leg firmly. Stuff the shoe a little bit - just enough that you can still handle stitching the pieces together. You can stuff the leg/shoe more after you’ve stitched the shoe on part way. And then after stuffing to your satisfaction, finish attaching the shoe.

Attaching the shoe: whip stitch shoe to leg. Then wind the remaining length around the joining edge twice. On the first pass I stitch the yarn in at the half way pt, just for some stabilizing, then continue around to finish that round. On completion of the second round simply stitch the end in securely.

Arm (MAKE 2)

Start with magic ring of 5 ch or however you like to start your spiral/circular shape using 5 ch

Row 2: 2sc in each ch (10)
Row 3: 2sc in first ch, 1 sc in next* five times (15)
Row 4-6: sc in each (in the first sc on row 5 make a cluster – this is the “thumb”. I used a 5sc cluster I think. experiment to your liking)
Row 7: 1 sc in next 3, sc2tog in next* repeat three times (12)
Row 8: sc in each
Row 9: sc in next 5, sc2tog in next sc* repeat (10)
Row 10-11: sc in each
Row 12: switch to shirt color and sc in each.

Bind off leaving long tail for attaching to body.

Note:You can attach the arms whenever you’re ready. I did mine at the end. Whip stitch them to the first row of the shirt, placing them as you see fit. ;) When attaching them, just make sure the thumbs are facing the “right” way; facing forward if you wish for her to seem relaxed with palms toward her sides.

Hair

Making a hair cap...

Same process as making the head, just stop halfway. Since I used a yarn that was a little heavier for the hair than what I used to the head itself, my figures might seem ... strange. If you’re using the same yarn throughout the project then your cap should be “bigger” than your head. You’ll see here my numbers seem to stop at a smaller point, but it works for me because of the yarn and change in hook size.

Using hook size E - 3.5mm

Start with magic ring of 6 sc
Rnd 1: 2sc in each sc (12)
Rnd 2: 1 sc in first sc, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (18)
Rnd 3: 1 sc in each next 2 scs, 2sc in next sc * repeat 6 times (24)
Rnd 4: 1 sc in each next 3 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (30)
Rnd 5: 1 sc in each next 4 scs, 2sc in next sc* repeat 6 times (36)
Rnd 6-7: work even rounds 36 each round

Bind off leaving long tail for attaching to head.

Place the cap on the head at a tilt with the back edge dipping down closer to the neck line. Once it’s positioned as you like attach it lightly to the head. Now comes the fun part. Cut equal lengths of yarn, I did about 5 inches (I think??). Cut a lot. Depending on the style you’re going to do this number will vary. Now simply hook the yarn through scs throughout the cap. You don’t have to hook through every sc. I did about two scs apart and staggered. At the top of the head you’ll have to experiment and see what works best; thinking about how real hair grows. After all the yarn you want is put in, style it!


Creator’s Notes:

Well, I hope this was decipherable. If you use it as a loose guideline and let your own creative juices flow, I’m sure you’ll have success and an original doll of your own! Remember to just have fun!

In retrospect I should’ve taken more in-progress photos. I’m sure a lot of my directions are mind boggling. (@_@)’

I’m happy if you make these dolls for gift giving or sharing with friends. However, I ask that you please do not duplicate this pattern or make the dolls to sell for personal profit. If you are interested in using it for charity or some special event, I’d love to hear about it. Please contact me at amigurumigirl@gmail.com and I’ll try my best to help. (^_^) Thank you! *whew*

Great Ideas and Guilt

So my husband has been saying for ages, "You should totally hook up your amigurogimimi (he calls it something different everytime) site with our paypal dealio and try to get donations!!" This he says with a huge grin and that wild eyed look.

me: *like deer in headlights* Donations?? For what? My one frog pattern?

him: Don't forget the pear.

me: And my pear pattern?

him: And other entries...

me: My wonderful writing skills full with wit and charm that you find in my oh so often entries? ha!

Yikes. That's a lot of pressure. Never-the-less he was determined and now lo and behold we have a "donate" button. Please know I'm not expecting anything for what I put up on this site. But as my husband says, "You never know when someone might be feeling a little generous." Ok, maybe those aren't his exact words. I'm trying to get him to write an entry here himself to explain it because it's really funny what he's telling me - you should see him gesticulating and articulating right now.

Alas, it seems I can not convince him.

Sigh. I guess this means I have to up the site maintenance. (*_*)'

Busy or not...

I think I've been too busy. But then when people ask me what I've been doing I don't seem to have much to say. Do you ever feel like that? It seems like I feel like that a lot lately. Day to day that's how I feel. They'll say, "What did you guys do today?" and all I do is stare blankly back. *blink blink*

In May we moved. ugh. Moving sucks. And that seriously set me back in a lot of ways. I have been keeping busy here and there, however not much with amigurumi. I DID make one monkey but I don't have a photo of it and it's already been shipped off to its new owner. sorry. That's how scatter brained I've been!

Here's some photos of other things I've been up to...

I made two baby blankets. The scalloped one is from the book Bend the Rules Sewing. Love that book. Cute fabric isn't it? There was a Joann's near by doing a moving sale. heh heh

The other blanket is just scraps put together. I also made some baby bibs from the same book. I bought quilting squares so I could get more variety without the crazy left over yardage. Each square made two bibs with a good size strip left for some future project. ;) Cotton on the front, cotton flannel on the back with snap closures. Fun.

Then I made a necklace and a box to go with it. The box is just your regular cardboard box that I wrapped with handmade paper my mom brought me from Thailand a few years ago. The embellishments are store bought rub-ons. AND I got into making bread. LOVE LOVE LOVE this book . It really is easy and the results are yumMAY! Here slathered in butter with left over lasagne. So that's it. There were a lot of other activities crammed in between. It's summer vacation after all. Gotta keep the monster busy. Hm, I guess I have been doing a lot. It helps to see it all laid out like this. WHEW. I'm tired. (^_^)v

Good things do happen while you're gone...

I haven't been on much at all. :( I have a lot of reasons/excuses but, really, who wants to read those?

I got a nice surprise today when I finally did login however. Little Z has given me an "award"? wow! The fact that some total stranger out there who is so very awesome in their own right as a crafter thought well enough of me to give me an award. Thank you so much, Little Z. I truly am honored. If you haven't heard of or seen her website, you really must go see it. I don't know if i really deserve this award, because I've been sooooo slacking in all things creative lately and I certainly am not even on the edge of the league that the five I'm going to name are in (wow what a confusing sentence).

The Arte y Pico Award (Art and Peak). I had to use my Google to translate the page to English and then try to make out what the translation read, but it was limited so I still have no clue as who to specifically thank for making up such a nice award. Anyway, THANK YOU!

So now it seems the rules are that I must also give out 5 awards. These are sites I visit almost daily (even more often than my own) to be inspired, awed, and humbled. I don't leave many comments though - shame on me! - so they probably don't even know I exist. haha Hm I guess this means I'll have to at least go leave a comment about this award...

1) Angry Chicken: Not only the super author of bend-the-rules sewing but a great blogging mom as well. She makes awesome stuff, takes great care of her family, and still has time (or maybe more importantly the energy) to share it all with us. Same goes for my next awardee...

2) Molly Chicken: These two sites are mainly sewing projects and that's probably why I love them so much. I can't sew worth a poop myself but I really want to learn. Love her cute bears!

3) shimandsons: Another blogging mom and simply stylish. I love her photos. And what cute cute sons!! Be sure to visit her shop for all the goodies. heeee

4) Supereggplant: I first found Mariko through a candy swap thing. I've only done the swap once sad to say (not her fault! my own lack of motivation), but I love visiting her website still. Try some of the recipes she shares! Especially this one - Supernatural Brownies. yummmmm.

and last but not least

5) Posie gets cozy: I really find it comforting somedays to sit and browse through her blog. She brings us so much into her life that when I can't find serenity in my own I feel I can turn here for a breather. From wonderful projects, to beautiful photos, movie reviews, recipes... and OH their little puppy Clover Meadows. Sweet sweet Clover (though I do miss that darling Audrey). You can also find her here!

Now I guess I'm supposed to post the rules of how this all works. Because it is a little like tagging (which happened to me once and I have still yet to tag someone else. oops. sorry).

For you five if you ever see this, here are the rules:

• 
  
  You're to pick 5 blogs who you feel deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material and who also contribute to the blogging community no matter what language it's posted in.




• 
  
  Each award has to include the name of the author and a link to the blog so that eveyone can visit it.




• 
  
  Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link of the blog that has given it to him/her.




• 
  
  Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the arte y pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.




• 
  
  Show these rules!

Thank you, thank you!! (^_^)v

Nameless

I finished her not too long after my last post actually. I haven't posted her because I feel there's still a lot missing.... details, if you will. But I feel bad for not sharing what I have with you so far, so here she is. I wonder, what should I name her?

p.s. ~ Happy Valentine's Day! xoxo (^_^)'

WIP

I've been slowly working away on a new amigurumi. She's my own pattern so it takes longer that way. You'd think it would be faster since I don't have to keep stopping to check a pattern, but in fact, I have to keep stopping to reshape and rethink things. Ah well. Here's a peek for you all. Anyway, I hope to be done soon. I'm actually a lot further along than this photo suggests. (^_^)v

(By the way, how do you like the new blog template?)

Happy New Year!

Not a very happy beginning to a new year when the whole household is sick mind you, but I still wish you all a happy one. (~_^)

My daughter got sick the Friday before Christmas then miraculously recovered for the special day and promptly got sick again (fever and all) the day after. Then after a week of that my husband caught it (fever and all) and now that he is finally on the mend I am coming down with it. *sigh* No fever for me as of yet, and I hope to escape that fate, but I have such a bad cough and horrible congestion. ugh. Anywaaaay, you must be thinking, "but what have you made?!?!"

Not much time for crafts when sickies around I tell you but I did manage to whip up quite a few scarves for gifts; both crocheted AND knitted. (Me? Knit?? I've been practicing. *hee*) I will only bore you with photos of one, however.

I love blue. And I love soft. So this was just heaven to me. The yarn is Baby Alpaca Brush. I bought it here in town but you can see it at Plymouth Yarn's website. It looks MUCH better in person I assure you (not to mention anything of the FEEL of it. yum!). The pattern is from The Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches - 1983. If you have the book or know of it the pattern is Diamond Lace in the All-over Lace Patterns section. Mix in some garter stitches for a border and BAM a scarf is born. I don't have a scale to weigh my yarn so I can't tell you exactly how much I used. One ball was 50 g. I used a little over one and a half it looks like.

The little puppy looking thing is a travel tissue pack holder I made from the scraps. Yes, I had the same yarn in white that I used for another scarf that I crocheted. Its body is in stockinette and its ears are crocheted.

Well, it's time to get back to movie land. All I've been able to do is "lay" here and watch movies. Yesterday I just watched the newest remake of Pride and Prejudice, over and over and over... I love the A&E production of it made in 1995 but my copy of that is so scratched I have to get a new one. This remake with Keira Knightley isn't half bad though. Quiet enjoyable. I still can't stand the mother. And although I still don't think anyone could take Colin Firth's place as Mr. Darcy I think Matthew Macfadyen is a very good runner up.

Today's movie is Emma. (^_^)v